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MEMOIRS 

OF 

f 

ANGELUS POLITIANUS, 

JOANNES PICUS OF MIRANDULA, 

ACTIUS SINCERUS SANNAZARIUS, 

PETRUS BEMBUS, HIERONYMUS FRACASTORIUS, 

MARCUS ANTONIUS FLAMINIUS, 

AND 

THE AMALTHEI : 

TRANSLATIONS FROM THEIR POETICAL WORKS: 

AND 

Notes cj Observations 

CONCERNING 

OTHER LITERARY CHARACTERS OF THE FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH 
CENTURIES. 

The Second Edition, greatly augmented. 

BY 

THE RE V. W. PA RR GRES WELL, ' 

Curate of Denton, in Lancashire. 

Manchester, 

PRINTED BY R. AND W. DEAN j 

for 

CADELL AND DAVTES, STRAND, LONDON. 

1805. 






n 



W& 



V<Vo* 



PREFACE. 



THE interval comprehended between the dawn 
of learning after a long night of ignorance and 
barbarism, and the time when it attained its 
meridian splendour, forms a period highly in- 
teresting, no less to the philosophical than the 
classical enquirer. Its importance has already 
been fully recognized; and the splendid pro- 
duct ions # of two classic pens, have recently 
served rather to stimulate than to allay the 
curiosity of the public. 

Those distinguished scholars who form the 
subjects of the follozving pages, are justly 
numbered among the brightest luminaries of 
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; and the 
restoration of letters, which was attended with 
effects so beneficial to society, is in some degree 
to be attributed to their efforts and example. 
It is scarcely necessari to observe, that the 
authentic particulars oj their lives and literary 
exertions are principally to be drawn in detached 
and scanty portions, from volumes of rare oc- 



* Mr. Roscoe's " Life of Lorenzo de' Medici ;" and " Me- 
moirs of the House of Medici, &c. translated from the French of 
Mr. Tenhove, with notes and observations by Sir Richard Clay- 
ton, Bart." 



IV PREFACE. 

currence, and which lie concealed in situations 
not always easy of access. If from the mate- 
rials which have occurred to the author in his 
researches, he should appear to have selected too 
sparingly — his plea is, that he preferred this 
extreme, to that of entering into a minuteness 
of detail, which might probably fatigue rather 
than interest the reader. 

Of the authenticity of these biographical 
and literary notices the intelligent reader will 
form an estimate from the authorities which 
have been carefully adduced. It could afford 
little satisfaction to those who desire to exercise 
their own judgment, to peruse a collection of 
mere anecdotes unsanctioned by the vouchers of 
historic truth. 

Much valuable information respecting these 
learned men might probably be obtained from 
sources which the author has ?iot yet had an op- 
portunity of exploring. " Videlicet hoc illud 
est prcecipue studiorum genus, quod vigiliis 
augescat — ut cui subinde ceu fluminibus ex de- 
cursu, sic accedit ex lectione minutatim quo 
fiat uberius. "* He will continue to feel suffi- 
cient interest in such a subject, to render him 
desirous of doing it more justice hereafter, if 
his present essay should be favourably received 
by the candid public. 



* Ang. Politiani " Miscellaneor. PrcrfattQ. u 



PREFACE 



to the 



SECOND EDITION. 



X he favourable reception with which the 
former edition of these " Memoirs" has been 
honoured by the public, having encouraged 
me to prepare a second edition, it has been 
my anxious wish, by rendering the work more 
ample and compleat, to recommend it to fu- 
ture patronage. In this attempt, I have at 
once gratified my own predilection for enqui- 
ries of this liberal kind, and endeavoured to 
fulfil a task which I formerly pledged myself 
to undertake. 



If biographical researches and the personal 
histories of those, who by pre-eminence in 
wisdom, by works of taste or improvements in 
science, have pleasingly distinguished them- 
selves from the great mass of mankind, are 

a 3 



VI PREFACE TO THE 

fraught with instruction and delight; those 
have an especial claim to this character which 
are connected with the period when Reason 
began to re-assert her power ; when the capabi- 
lities of mind and the energies of genius, roused 
from long torpor and inaction, seemed to have 
acquired a kind of juvenile vigour from their 
slumbers, and a noble ardour for precedency 
in intellectual attainments prompted so many 
to exertion in the same career. "This was 
the happy age, when Italy in particular, ap- 
peared to be animated with the spirit of an- 
cient Greece ; when the most laudable studies, 
the sublimest sciences, the most valuable arts 
were cultivated in that genial soil with such a 
degree of felicity, that the human mind seemed 
to have called forth its utmost powers ; and 
genius could scarce be imagined capable of 
higher perfection, or art of nobler achieve- 
ments. In these days many individuals ap- 
peared, whose Latin compositions in verse and 
prose, are, distinguished by the genuine flavour 
of the Augustan age; whilst in their native 
language historians and poets composed works 
that might challenge the finest productions of 
antiquity, — architects, painters, and sculptors 
arose, whose performances will perhaps be 
excelled by those of no succeeding times. 
This was the period when scholars engaged 
with enthusiasm in every important depart- 



SECOND EDITION. VII 

ment of knowledge, when considerable advan- 
ces were made in every walk of sound learning, 
and new paths of science were pointed out to 
the literary and philosophical investigators of 
succeeding ages. This too was the period of 
classic taste and elegant refinement, when 
with an emulous and liberal curiosity, the eye 
of erudition began to contemplate the medals, 
sculptures, and other proud spoils and precious 
relics of antiquity." # 

An admired author f of our own days, has 
however, justly observed, that " biographers 
in the pursuit of information, are naturally 
betrayed into minute researches," that u the 
curiosity of the reader is seldom proportioned 
to that of the writer in this species of compo- 
sition," and that " every incident relating to 
a favourite character, which the mind has 
long contemplated with attention, acquires 
importance." A consciousness of these truths, 
and other considerations, induced me to avoid 
entering, in the former edition, into various 
particulars, which a more implicit confidence 
in my own judgment or compliance with my 
own wishes would otherwise have persuaded 

* Maffei degli Scrittori Veronesi, Lib. iv. §. 1. 

f Warton, Life of Sir Thomas Pope. Lond. 8vo. 1772, 
Pref. p. I. 



Vlll 



PREFACE TO THE 



\ 



me not to neglect. At present, I feel less 
hesitation in entering somewhat more particu- 
larly into minutice, in which the public has 
manifested a flattering interest. The notices 
concerning Politian and the scholars of his 
age have been very considerably enlarged, and 
the particulars will, it is presumed, be found 
better arranged and methodized. Some of the 
memoirs of other scholars who form the sub- 
jects of this volume have been written anew, 
and all of them more or less augmented. Some 
passages of the former volume have been, for 
obvious reasons, transposed ; others, but those 
of inconsiderable importance, have been sup- 
pressed, generally to make room for more 
ample details, or particulars that appeared 
more interesting. 



The Memoirs of Prince Giovanni Pico 

of Mirandola, which constitute a conside- 
rable part of the augmentations found in the 
present edition, are wholly new. If an author 
might be permitted to estimate the value of 
any portion of his work by the comparative 
labour and research bestowed upon it, I should 
presume to flatter myself that this part of mine 
Avould be received as a valuable improvement. 
The numberless eulogies on the character of 
Picus are so many indisputable suffrages to 
the interest which attaches to his history : for 



SECOND EDITION. IX 

surely the concurrent testimony of successive 
generations cannot err. Whence then can it 
have happened, that whilst almost every other 
scholar of eminence in these times, has found 
a historian more or less qualified to preserve 
his memory and transactions from oblivion, 
nothing that merits the name of a regular bio- 
graphical account of this amiable and learn- 
ed nobleman has hitherto appeared ? Can 
any satisfactory reason for this neglect be 
assigned ? — unless it was supposed that the 
materials were so scanty, or so dispersed, that 
either like the leaves of the Sybil, they were 
incapable of being -collected and reduced to 
order; or that their paucity and indistinct- 
ness would not recompense the labour of such 
an undertaking. 

The correspondence of Picus, as well a& 
that of Politian and the scholars of his age, 
from which many of the notices concerning 
Picus are extracted, is totally destitute of 
chronological arrangement. Many of the 
letters are without dates; and nothing but 
a patient and diligent collation of inciden- 
tal passages and facts could enable a writer 
to remedy these defects. From these how- 
ever, and similar works, much more may be 
discovered of the personal and literary his- 
tory of Picus, than even my own sanguine 

b 



Preface to the 

hopes had encouraged me to expect. Imper- 
fect indeed, it must be acknowledged, still 
remains the account of Picus with which I 
have been enabled to present the reader ; and 
far short of the interest, which I flatter myself 
he would feel in a more minute history of so 
extraordinary a character. But the particu- 
lars now laid before the public, have at least 
the recommendation of indisputable veracity, 
as derived from the most authentic sources : 
they have the recommendation of novelty, as 
constituting the earliest attempt to bring him 
forward in his genuine character, which has, 
I believe, yet appeared in any language : and 
the judicious reader will prefer an imperfect 
biographical sketch, recommended by truth, 
to any supplementary embellishments added 
by the pencil of fiction or conjecture. 

Picus, I may further observe, as exhibited 
in the sombrous and partial portrait of his 
nephew Giovan-Francesco, with all his extra- 
ordinary moral and intellectual attainments, 
appears to little more advantage than a taste- 
less scholastic, or a misguided enthusiast. 
Politian has been unjustly represented as an 
immoral person and an infidel. The strict ties 
by which these scholars arc here shewn to 
have been connected, their indissoluble amity, 
and their congenial studies, may serve to vin- 



SECOND EDITION. XI 

dicate their mutual fame; aud prove Picus 
to have, combined with fervent piety the ur- 
banity and liberal science of the gentleman ; — 
Politian to have recognised in the midst of 
his classical, poetical, and critical pursuits, 
the more important obligations of morality 
and religion. 

Of the Latin and Italian poems which oc- 
cur in this volume, (many of which are ac- 
companied with translations) some owe their 
introduction to my opinion of their excel- 
lency ; others are brought forwards, less as 
the happiest efforts of their respective authors, 
than as serving to illustrate their histories. 
The greater part of the translations will, on 
comparison with the originals, be found of the 
close kind : some few are confessedly diffuse, 
and partake more of the nature of paraphrases. 
Whether the close or the diffuse mode of poetical 
translation be preferable, I take not upon myself 
to decide. We have examples of great respecta*- 
bility in both. Our language certainly possesses 
a facility of compression or dilatation which 
renders it so far competent to both, that if an 
author fail in either, he alone must be re- 
sponsible. 

The poetical translations which appeared 
in the former edition are here reprinted with 



Xli PREFACE. 

very little alteration. The notes in this vo- 
lume afford ample information concerning 
many scholars of great eminence, who appear 
on the present occasion only accidentally sub- 
ordinate : but as repeated mention of some of 
them frequently occurs in other parts of the 
work, by the assistance of an index now 
first annexed, the reader may at pleasure con- 
nect these scattered particulars, and bring 
every thing relating to the same individual 
under a distinct review. 



I MEMOIRS, 



While Death exults Lorenzo ! o'er thy bier, 

And leads triumphant the funereal throng, 
High thron'd on sable car ; — his startled ear 

Deep tones pervade of elegiac song. 
He turns, — when lo ! a bard, with frenzied air, 

In keenest anguish sweeps the golden strings: 
Wild is the dirge, in strains that breathe despair, 

As thus, — unmindful of himself, he sings : 
" Ye Gods ! could worth commend affliction's cry, 

Could hearts celestial be with pity mov'd, 
Yet had he liv'd, had liv'd his people's joy, 

Our tears accepted, and our suit approv'd" 
Astonish'd, checks his steeds the indignant Power ; 

His rankling breast the deep offence retains 
That Orpheus once could Erebus explore, 

And snatch one victim from his drear domains. 
fe Thou too, presumptuous bard /" he sternly cries, 

With spells harmonious would'st my realm invade ; 
Perish the hand that thus our power defies, 

And rashly dares recal a fleeting shade." 
He said, — and gives the wound ; the golden lyre 

As sorrowing, vibrates in the ?naster's hand ; 
Sofall'st thou, sweetest of the tuneful choir, 

Politian ! glory of the Ausonian land. 

Petri Bembi in obitum Angeli Politiani. 




MEMOIRS 



OF 



POLITIAN. 



Jugemens dcs 



jl\ngelus Politianus was born July 14, 
1454, at Monte Pulciano in Tuscany; and 
from the name of this town, in Latin Mons 
Politianus, he derived the surname of Politiano. 
His father was a Doctor of the civil law. His 
name, according to ML Baillet, was Benedictus 
de Cinis, or de Ambroginis ; for he considers 
the former as a corruption of the latter. 

Politian, whom for his early indications 
of extraordinary genius, M. Baillet has enu- Savans, Tom 
merated among his " Enfans cilebres par leurs parde!"^?, 
Etudes" had the advantage of Christoforo i2w>. Amst, 
Landino's instructions in the Latin language. 1(25 ' 
His preceptor in the Greek was Andronicus 
of Thessalonica. From Joannes Argyrop}ius 
he imbibed the principles of the Peripatetic 
philosophy; and from Marsilius Ficinus those 
of the Platonic : but in the early part of his 
life he devoted his attention chiefly to the 
Muses ; and preferred the gay and pleasing 
study of Poesy to the austere discipline of the 
Philosophic schools. The means of Politian 's 



2 MEMOIRS OF 

education, as some assert, were furnished al- 
most from his childhood, by the family of the 
IVJedici ; and his early obligations of this 
nature to Lorenzo de' Medici in particular are 
clear, both from his own testimony, and that 
of his contemporaries. He was, however, more 
particularly recommended to public notice and 
the esteem of his illustrious patrons, by his 
poem, entitled " Stanze per laGiostra di Giu- 
liano de' Medici. " This poem is supposed to 
have been written when the author had scarcely 
passed his fourteenth year. Its abrupt termi- 
nation evidently proves it to be an unfinished 
performance. Yet thus abandoned by its au- 
thor to neglect, and perhaps considered by 
him as a mere playful effort of childish genius, 
unworthy of subsequent revisal or completion, 
if it did not, like the vernacular frolics of Boc- 
caccio's genius, contribute more than his clas- 
sical productions to perpetuate its author's 
fame, it has at least done this in a very con- 
siderable degree. The best Italian critics con- 
stantly speak of the " Stanze" of Politian in 
Tiraboschi terms of the highest eulogy. One of the most 
Po°esfa d itaUa- distinguished of them ranks this poem, unfi- 
na. vol. ii. nished as it is, amongst the most elegant 

p. 211 of the ... \ . , T . % , & 

elegant edi- compositions which Italian poesy can boast, 
tion of Mr. ^ s a re fi ner and improver of his vernacular 
i2mo. Lon- tongue, the juvenile efforts of Politian appear 
don, 1803. to j lave resembled those of our own celebrated 
Pope; and perhaps, all circumstances consi- 
dered, his success was not inferior. " It is 
matter of real astonishment," observes the cri- 
tic above cited, " that at a time when those 
who had been longest exercised in the practice 
of versification, could not divest themselves 
of their antiquated rusticity, a youthful poet, 



POLITIAN. 3 

I 

who had scarce begun to touch the lyre, should 
be able to leave them so far behind." 

On this occasion, Politian writing in his 
native language, and expatiating in terms 
familiar to him, gives an unrestrained scope 
to his genius, which here stands displayed, in 
all the rich, unpruned wildness of juvenile 
luxuriancy. A more convincing proof could 
scarcely have been given, either of an exu- 
berant imagination, and a fancy, by nature 
romantically poetical, or of a mind stored by 
observation, with a wonderful variety of ad- 
ventitious and classical imagery. Richardson, 
in his celebrated work on painting, asserts that 
Politian's genius was of special assistance to 
Rarfaelle d'Urbino in many of his exquisite pro- 
ductions. The poem in question might alone vide Menck- 
suffice to justify such an observation ; and will |Xun? w l Lo 
undoubtedly, be perused with great advantage, cites the' 
by the emulous votary of the sister art. Almost a^Tom^, 
every Stanza is a picture, and manifests that p. 334. 
the author wanted none of those requisites 
which nature can bestow, to qualify him also 
for the highest eminence in that admired art. 

In this poem, Politian's description "dello 
Regno d' Amore," forms a kind of whole, 
which in some degree consoles the reader for 
the interrupted state of the main argument. 
Cupid having evinced that the heart of Giuli- 
ano, notwithstanding the bold ridicule 'and 
sarcastic contempt he had frequently expressed 
for the tender passion, was not invulnerable ; 
the poet leaves his young hero, under the 
covert of night and solitude, to indulge those 
sighs, to which his wounded bosom had ceased 
to be a stranger. He commences his beautifu^ 
Episode in the following terms. 

B 2 



MEMOIRS OF 

Ma falto Amor la sua bella vendetta, 
Mossesi lieto per 1' aere a volo, 
E ginne al regno di sua madre in fretta, 
Ov' e de' picciol suoi fratei lo sluolo : 
Al regno, ove ogni Grazia si diletta; 
Ove Belta, di fiori al crin fa brolo: 
Ove tutto lascivo dietro a Flora 
Zefiro vola, e la verde erba infiora. 

Or canta meco un po* del dolce regno, 
Erato bella, ehe il nome hai d* Amore. 
Tu sola, benche casta, puoi nel regno 
Sicura entrar di Venere e d' Amore. 
Tu de' versi amorosi hai sola il regno : 
Teco sovente a cantar viensi Amore : 
E posta giu dagli omer la faretra, 
Tenta le corde di tua bella cetra. 

Vagheggia Cipri un dilettoso monte, 
Che del gran Nilo i settecomi vede 
All primo rosseggiar dell* Orizzonte, 
Ove poggiar non lice a mortal piede. 
Nel giogo un verde colle alza la fronte ; 
Sott' esso aprico un lieto pratel siede ; 
U* scherzando tra* fior lascive aurette, 
Fan dolcemente tremolar V erbette. 



Corona un muro d* or Y estreme sponde 
Con valle ombrosa di schietti arboscelli, 
Ove in su' rami fra novelle fronde 
Cantan gli lor amor soavi augelli. 
Sentensi un grato mormorio dell' onde, 
Che fan duo freschi e lucidi ruscelli, 
Versando dolce con amar liquore, 
Ove arma 1' oro de* suoi strali Amore. 



POLITIAN. 

Ne raai le chiome del giardino eterno 
Tenera brina, o fresca neve inbianca : 
Ivi non osa entrar ghiacciato verno : 
Non vento Y erbe, o gli arboscelli stanca : 
Ivi non volgon gli anni il lor quaderno ; 
Ma lieta Primavera mai non manca, 
Che i suoi crin biondi e crespi all' aura spiega, 
E mille fiori in ghirlandetta lega. 

Lungo le rive i frati di Cupido, 
Che solo usan ferir la plebe ignota, 
Con alte voci e fanciullesco grido 
Aguzzan lor saette ad una cota. 
Piacere, Insidia posati in su'l lido 
Volgono il perno alia sanguigna rota : 
11 fallace Sperar col van Disio 
Spargon nel sasso Y acqua del bel rio. 

Dolce Paura, e timido Diletto, 

Dolci Ire, e dolci Paci insieme vanno : 
Le Lagrime si lavan tutto il petto, 
E' 1 flumicello amaro crescer fanno : 
Pallore smorto, e paventoso Affetto 
Con Magrezza si duole, e con AfTanno : 
Vigil Sospetto ogni sentiero spia : 
Letizia balla in mezzo della via. 

Volutta con Bellezza si gavazza". 

Va fuggendo il Contento, e siede Angoscia : 

II cieco Errore or qua or la svolazza : 

Percotesi il Furor con man la coscia : 

La Penitenzia misera strarnazza, 

Che del passato error s' e accorta poscia : 

Nel sangue Crudelta lieta si ficca: 

E la Disperazion se stessa impicca. 






MEMOIRS OF 

Tacito Inganno, e simulato Riso 

Con Cenni astuti, messaggier de* cuori, 
E fissi Sguardi con pietoso viso 
Tendon lacciuoli a.' giovani tra* fiori. 
Stassi col volto in su la palma assiso 
II Pianto in compagnia de* suoi Dolori : 
E quinci e quindi vola senza modo 
Licenzia non ristretta in alcun nodo. 

Cotal milizia i tuoi figli accompagna, 
Venere bell a, madre degli Amori. 
Zefiro il prato di rugiada bagna, 
Spargendolo di mille vaghi odori : 
Ovunque vola, veste la campagna 
Di rose, gigli, violette, e fiori : 
L' erba di sua bellezza ha maraviglia; 
Bianca, cilestra, pallida, e vermiglia. 

Trema la Mammoletta verginella 

Con occhi bassi, onesta e vergognosa : 
Ma vie piu lieta, piu ridente, e bella 
Ardisce aprire il seno al Sol la Rosa : 
Questadi verdi gemme s' incappella: 
Quella si mostra alio sportel vezzosa : 
1/ altra, che'n dolce foco ardea pur ora, 
Languida cade, e'l bel pratello infiora. 

L' Alba nutrica d' amoroso nembo 
Gialle, sanguigne, candide Viole : 
Descritto ha il suo dolor Jacinto in grembo 
Narciso al rio si specchia, come suole : 
In bianca vesta con purpureo lembo 
Si gira Clizia pallidetta al Sole : 
Adon rinfresca a Venere il suo pianto : 
Tre lingue mostra Croco, e ride Acanto. 



POLITIAN. 7 

Mai rivesti di tante gemme Y erba 

La novella stagion, che '1 mondo avviva. 

Sovr* esso il verde colle alza superba 

L' ombrosa chioma, u il sol mai non arriva : 

E sotto vel di spessi rami serba 

Fresca e gelata una fontana viva 

Con si pura, tranquilla, e chiara vena, 

Che gli occhi non offesi al fondo mena. 

L' acqua da viva pomice zampilla, 

Che con suo arco il bel monte sospende; 
E per fiorito solco indi tranquilla 
Pingendo ogni sua orma al fonte scende ; 
Dalle cui labbra un grato urhor distilla, 
Che '1 premio di lor ombre agli arbor rende. 
Ciascun si pasce a mensa non avara ; 
E par che 1* un deir altro cresca a gara. 



Now in his proud revenge exulting, high 

Through fields of air Love speeds his rapid flight, 
And in his Mother's realm the treacherous boy 
Rejoins his kindred band of flutterers light ; 
That realm of each bewitching Grace the joy, 
Where Beauty wreathes with sweets her tresses bright 
Where Zephyr importunes on wanton wing 
Flora's coy charms, and aids her flowers to spring. 

Thine Erato ! to Love's a kindred name, 
Of Love's domains instruct the bard to tell: 
To thee, chaste Muse ! alone 'tis giv'n to claim 
Free ingress there, secure from every spell : 
Thou rul'st of soft amours the vocal frame, 
And Cupid, oft, as childish thoughts impel, 
To thrill with wanton touch its golden strings, 
Behind his winged back his quiver flings. 



MEMOIRS OF 

A mount o'erlooks the charming Cyprian Isle, 

Whence, towards the morn's first blush, the eye sublime 
Might reach the sevenfold course of mighty Nile; 
But ne'er may mortal foot that prospect climb. 
A verdant hill o'erhangs its highest pile, 
Whose base a plain, that laughs in vernal prime ; 
Where gentlest airs, midst flowers and herbage gay, 
Urge o'er the quivering blade their wanton way. 



A wall of gold secures the utmost bound ; 

And dark with viewless shade, a woody vale : 
There, on each branch with youthful foliage crown'd. 
Some feathered songster chaunts his amorous tale ; 
Andjoin'd, in murmurs soft, with grateful sound, 
Two rivulets glide pellucid through the dale ; 
Beside whose streams, this sweet, that bitter found, 
His shafts of gold Love tempers for the wound. 

No flow'rets here decline their wither'd heads, 

Blanch'd with cold snows, or fring'd with hoar-frost sear ; 

No winter, wide his icy mantle spreads ; 

No tender scion rends- the tempest drear : 

Here spring eternal smiles, nor varying leads 

His change quadruple the revolving year : 

Spring ! with a thousand blooms his brows entwin'd, 

His auburn locks light fluttering in the wind. 

The inferior band of Loves, — a childish throng, 
Tyrants of none, save hearts of vulgar kind, 
Each other gibing with loquacious tongue, 
On stridulous stones their barbed arrows grind : 
Whilst Pranks and Wiles, the rivulet's marge along, 
Ply at the whirling wheel their task assign'd; 
And on the sparkling stone, in copious dews, 
Vain Hopes and vain Desires the lymph effuse, 



POLITIAN. 

There pleasing Pain, and fluttering, fond Delight, 
Sweet Broils, Caresses sweet, together go : 
Sorrows that hang their heads in doleful plight, 
And swell with tears the bitter streamlet's flow : 
Paleness all wan, and dreaming still of slight, 
Affection fond, with Leanness, Fear, and Woe : 
Suspicion, casting round his peering eye, 
And o'er the midway dancing, wanton Joy. 

Pleasure with Beauty gambols ; light in air 
Bliss soars inconstant; Anguish sullen sits ; 
Blind Error flutters, bat-like, here and there ; 
And Frenzy raves, and strikes his thigh by fits. 
Repentance, of past follies late aware, 
Her fruitless penance there not intermits : 
Her hand with gore fell Cruelty distains; 
And seeks Despair in death to end his pains. 

Gestures and Nods, that inmost thoughts impart, 
Illusions silent, Smiles that guile intend, 
The Glance, the Look, that speak th' impassion'd heart, 
Mid flow'ry haunts, for Youth their toils suspend : 
And never from his Griefs Complaint apart, 
Prone on his palm his face is seen to bend : 
Now hence, — now thence, — in unrestrained guise, 
Licentiousness on wing capricious flies. 

Such ministers thy Progeny attend, 

Venus ! fair mother of each fluttering pow'r : 
A thousand odours from those fields ascend, 
While Zephyr brings in dews the pearly shower ; 
Fann'd by his flight, what time their incense blend 
The Lily, Violet, Rose, or other flower ; 
And views with conscious pride the exulting scene 
Its mingled azure, vermil, pale, and green. 
C 






^-r— 



10 MEMOIRS OF ' 

The trembling Pansy virgin fears alarm ; 

Downward her modest eye she blushing bends : 
The laughing Rose, more specious, bold, and warm, 
Her ardent bosom not from Sol defends : 
Here, from the capsule bursts each opening charm ; 
Full-blown, the invited hand she here attends : 
Here, she who late with fires delightful glow'd, 
Droops languid, with her hues the mead bestrew'd. 

In show'rs descending, courts th'enamour'd air 
The Violet's yellow, purple, snowy hues : 
Hyacinth ! thy woes, thy bosom's marks declare : 
His form Narcissus in the stream yet views. 
In snowy vest, but fring'd with purple glare, 
Pale Clytie still the parting sun pursues. 
Fresh o'er Adonis, Venus pours her woes, 
Acanthus smiles; her lovers Crocus shows. 

When vernal suns awake the slumbering year, 
Not half so glorious blooms the vest of May. 
Proudly to view the height is seen to rear 
Its foliag'd front, excluding far the day : 
Skreen'd by whose shade, from Sol's obtrusive glare 
A frigid fountain wells its living way 
So pure, so tranquil, in its mirrour bright 
Nought from its base withholds the illuded sight. 

Where many a chink pervades the native stone ; 
And the arch'd rock, self-scoop'd, a grot suspends : 
Through flow'r-fring'd channels, first descending prone. 
Each scanty rill to one bright centre tends. 
Thence, by the liquid mass the brink oVrgrown, 
To each protecting tree its tribute sends : 
Each quaffs the draught, those liberal stores supply, 
And each with each,, in verdure seems to vie. 



POLITTAtf. 



1! 



But to follow Polltian in his minute descrip- 
tion of all the varied scenery of this enchanted 
ground, would be a difficult task : nor would 
it be a less arduous undertaking, to delineate 
after him, all those ornamental representations, 
with which sculpture through the medium of 
his prolific fancy, has enriched the palace of 
Venus. His description of the Goddess her- 
self, rising from the Ocean, was perhaps a 
favorite subject with the author ; who has also 
tried his poetical pencil with it^ on another vid E . m 

OCCasion. Graeca Politi- 



Vera la schiuma, e vero il mar direste 
II nicchio ver, vero il soffiar de venti. 
La Dea negli occhi folgorar vedreste, 
E'l ciel riderle attorno, e gli elementi : 
1/ Ore premer P arena in bianche vesle, 
L* aura increspar li crin distesi e lenti : 
Non una, non diversa esser lor faccia; 
Come par che a sorelle ben confaccia. (a) 

Giurar potresti, che dell' onde uscisse 
La Dea premendo con la destra il crino, 
Con P altra il dolce pomo ricoprisse ; 
E stampata dal pie sacro e diyino, 
D' erba e di fior la rena si vestisse : 
Poi con sembiante lieto e pellegrino 
Dalle tre Ninfe in grembo fosse accolta, 
E di stellato vestimento involta. 



Questa con ambe man le tien sospesa 
Sopra P umide trecce una ghirlanda 



00 



Facies non omnibus una, 



Nee diversa tamen, qualem decet esse sororum. 

Ovid. Metam. Lib. ii. 11,12* 
C 2 



"-»■ 



^4^ 



12 MEMOIRS OF 



D' oro e di gerame orientali accesa: 
Quella una perla agli orecchi accomanda .• 
L' altra al bel petto e bianchi omeri intesa 
Par che ricchi monili intorno spanda, 
De' qua* solean cerchiar lor proprie gole, 
Quando nel ciel guidavan le carole. 



Indi paion levate in ver le spere 
Seder sopra una nuvola d' argento : 
1/ aer tremante ti parria vedere 
Nel duro sasso, e tutto '1 ciel contento 
Tutti li Dii di sua belta godere, 
E del felice letto aver talento : 
Ciascun sembrar nel volto maraviglia, 
Con fronte crespa, e rilevate ciglia. 



Real seem'd the foam, light floated o'er the sea 
The well dissembled shell by breezes fanned: 
Flash'd from the Goddess' eye, a living ray 
Illum'd the smiling heav'n, the main, the land. 
Attendant Hours in snowy vests, display 
Their tresses to the wind, and tread the strand : 
Not one their air — nor varying yet in mien ; 
In each fair face a sister's likeness seen. 

The Goddess* self (such skill the sculptor's) there 
Emergent moves ; from her wet hair the brine 
Her right hand wrings ; the left her bosom fair 
Protects ; spontaneous greens and flow 'rs combine 
Their gayest hues, her earliest steps to share : 
With smiling grace, nor less than forms divine, 
Three duteous nymphs receive the stranger blest, 
And with a spangled robe her limbs invest. 



POLITIAN\ 13 

This with both hands a braid (distinct to sight 
Where gold with orient gems its lustre blends) 
Holds o'er her dripping tresses ; sparkling bright 
A pearl, this from her beauteous ear suspends : 
Her shoulders o'er, and bosom snowy v/hite, 
The circling brilliants this with care extends. 
Such their attire ; with such their charms are crown'd, 
When in the dance they tread celestial ground. 

Now slowly rising to yon upper sphere 

Sublime they soar, their seat a silver cloud : 
Soft, fluttering zephyrs agitate the air, 
And asther smiles, of such a burthen proud. 
Each God with transport hails a guest so fair, 
His bosom's secret wish by looks avow'd : 
(Though mute the stone) such eloquence imply 
The front contracted, and protuberant eye. 

Though Politian, as in some instances may- 
have been already observed, often indulges 
without scruple the sportive suggestions of 
his own youthful fancy, yet he frequently 
avails himself with great felicity, of those ap- 
propriate images with which a mind classically 
imbued like his was stored. He has thus 
evinced not only a singular familiarity with 
the poets of antiquity, but also a minute at- 
tention to the remains of ancient art. 

No poet's pen could have succeeded better 
in the description of an ancient Intaglio or 
Bas-relief, than he has done in his Rape of 
Europa; which was probably intended as a 
copy of some such classical original. 



In un formoso, e bianco tauro 

Si vede Giove per amor converso 
Portarne il dolce suo ricco tesauro, 
E lei volgere il viso al lito perso 



14 MEMOIRS OF 



In atto paventosa : e i be' crin d' auro 
Scherzan nel petto per lo vento avverso : 
La vesta ondeggia, e indietro fa ritorno ; 
L* una man tien al dorso, e 1' altra al corno. (b) 

Le ignude piante a se ristrette accoglie, 
Quasi temendo il mar, che non le bagne : 
Tale atteggiata di paure e dogiie 
Par chiami in van le sue dolci compagne ; 
Le quali assise tra floretti e foglie 
Dolenti Europa ciascheduna piagne. 
" Europa," sona il lito, " Europa, riedi :" 
II toro nota, e talor bacia i pLdi. 



Beneath a snow white bull's majestic guise 

Here, Jove conceal'd by Love's transforming pow'r, 

Exulting bears his peerless, blooming prize : 

With wild affright she views the parting shore. 

Her golden locks the winds that adverse rise 

In loose disorder spread her bosom o'er. 

Light floats her vest, by the same gales upborne : 

One hand the chine, one grasps the circling horn. 

Her naked feet, as of the Waves afraid, 

With shrinking effort seem to avoid the main ; 
Terror and grief in every act, — for aid 
Her cries invoke the fair attendant train : 
They seated distant on the flow'ry mead, 
Frantic recal their mistress lov'd in vain. 
" Return Europa," far pesounds the cry : 
On sails the God, intent on amorous joy. 



(b) — Pavct luec : litusque ablata rclictum 

Respicit : et dextra cornu tenet : altera dorso 
Imposita Cst: tremulx sinuantur flamine vestes. 

Ovid. Mbtamorph. Lib. ii. 



] 



POLITIAN. 16 

Such felicity of description indeed has our 
juvenile poet displayed, not merely in the pas- 
sages already adduced, but also in many others 
wherein the amours of the Gods are concern- 
ed, and the triumphs of Love exhibited, that 
selection seems to be injustice where all are 
equally deserving of praise. His Pluto and 
Proserpine is a picture not overcharged with 
figures, and yields to none of the rest, either 
in the happiness of its design, or the excel- 
lence of its execution. 



Quasi in un tratto vista, amata, e tolta 
Dal fiero Plato Proserpina pare 
Sopra un gran carro, e la sua chioma sciolta 
A* Zefiri amorosi ventilare. 
La bianca vesta in un bel grembo accolta 
Sembra i colti fioretti giu versare : 
Si percuote ella il petto, e in vista piagne, 
Or la madre chiamando, or le corapagne. (c) 



Seen, lov'd, embracM by Heir's relentless pow'r 
Here, sudden, Proserpine is borne away 
On car sublime; while hovering amorous o'er, 
Amidst her streaming hair the Zephyrs play. 
Fallen from her folded vest of white, before, 
The scatter'd flow'rs their blooming tints display. 
She beats her breast ; and with distrest acclaim 
Now calls her nymphs, and now her mother's name. 



(c) Poene simul visa est, dilectaque, raptaque Diti : 
Usque adeo properatur amor. Dea territa maesto, 
Etmatrem et cornices, sed matrem saepius, ore 
Clamat. 

Ovid. Metam, Lib. v. Fab. S, 



35 



16 MEMOIRS OF 

Politian's most whimsical representations 
are those of the procession of Bacchus, intro- 
duced in the story of Ariadne, and his Poli- 
pheme and Galatea. These were subjects not 
a little tempting to a juvenile imagination ; 
and no wonder if Politian was in some mea- 
sure carried away by them into the regions of 
extravagance. To avoid prolixity, we shall 
content ourselves with adducing the former; 
the general design of which, bespeaks not less 
than that of any of the others, its classical ori- 
gin and character. 

Dali/ altra parte labella Arianna 
Con le sorde acque di Teseo si dole, 
E dell' aura, e del sonno, che la inganna ; 
Di paura tremando, come sole 
Per piecioP ventolin palustre canna : 
Par che in atto abbia impresse tai parole : 
Ogni flera di te meno e crudele : 
Ognun di te piu mi saria fedele. (d) 

Vien sopra un carro d' ellera e di pampino 
Coperto Bacco, il qual duo tigri guidano, 
E con lui par che 1 alta rena stampino 
Satiri e Bacche ; e con voci alte gridano. 
Quel si vede ondeggiar : quei par ch'inciampino : 
Quel con un cembal bee : quei par che ridano : 
Qual fa d' un corno, e qual delle man ciotola : 
Qual ha preso una Ninfa, e qual si rotola. 

Sopra V asin Silen, di ber sempre avido 
Con vene grosse, nere, e di mosto umide, 
Marcido sembra, sonnacchioso, c gravido ; 
Le luci ha di vin rosse, enfiate, e fumide: 



(</) Mitius invcni quam te genus omne fcrarum. 

Ovid. Heroid. Ep. 10. 



POLITIAN. 17 



L* ardite Ninfe 1' asinel suo pavido 
Pungon col tirso ; ed ei con le man tumide 
A' crin s' appiglia ; e mentre si 1' attizzano 
Casca nel collo, e i Satiri lo rizzano. 



Here, to the deep, regardless of her woes, 
Thee Theseus ! Ariadne seems to blame, 
The treacherous gales, and her ill starrM repose: 
Meantime such tremors agitate her frame 
As when o'er reedy marshes zephyr blows. 
She speaks ; or fancy hears her thus exclaim : 
Than thee, each monster of these wilds I find 
Perfidious man ! less brutal) less unkind. 

By tigers drawn, his car with vine-leaves crown'd 
And elder, Bacchus comes ! his wonted band 
Satyrs and Bacchants wild the God surround, 
And with irregular footsteps print the strand. 
They reel ; their cries and saucy jeers resound : 
This from his cymbal quaffs ; this from his hand 
Or vocal horn, the purple liquor drains : 
That in his rude embrace a Nymph detains. 

Bestrides his ass, still with the draught uncloy'd 
Silenus, bloated he, obscene to view, 
With purple dregs his stupid forehead dy'd ; 
His dull, dim eye betrays a sanguine hue. 
Shrinks his chaf 'd steed, while flippant Nymphs his side 
Goad with the thyrsus, and deriding shew 
The half dismounted Sire : he grasps the mane 
Hirsute, and friendlier hands his weight sustain. 

Towards the conclusion of the poem, the 
author is led by circumstances connected with 
his subject, to moralize on the instability of 






JA- 



18 MEMOIRS OF 

all sublunary bliss. He remarks the folly of 
dwelling with fruitless lamentations, upon 
the remembrance of those accidents that are 
in their own nature incapable of remedy : and 
hence an appropriate occasion is furnished, 
for the introduction of some of the most lofty 
and dignified sentiments that distinguished 
the School of Zeno. 

Having been speaking of Fortune, he says : 

O felice colu i, che lei non cura 

E che a' suoi gravi assalti non s' arrende ! 
Ma, come scoglio che incontro al mar dura, 
O tone, che da Borea si difende, 
Suoi colpi aspetta con fronte sicura, 
E sta sempre provvisto a sue vicende: 
Da se sol pende ; in se stesso si fida ; 
Ne guidata e dal caso, anzi lui guida. 



O happy He who Fortune's frown perceives 
Undaunted, and her fiercest shock sustains 
Firm as a rock resists the assailing waves, 
Or tow'r the tempest's idle rage disdains : 
With brow serene her each assault he braves 
Prepaid, nor ever of reverse complains : 
Still self collected, in himself confides, 
Nor by chance govern'd, even o'er chance presides. 

Quitting (though with reluctance) the 
further consideration of this beautiful poem, 
we may be allowed to observe that Politian is, 
not without reason, considered by the learned 
of his country, among the first and principal 
restorers of Tuscan Poesy, (e) 

(e) " Se non il primo almeno tra primi," says Crescim- 
beni. Varchi (niWErcolano) apertamente dice che " Lo- 



P0L1TIAN. 19 

The judgment which Gio van-Francesco 
Pico passes on the vernacular compositions of 
this extraordinary man, can scarcely he deem- 
ed extravagant, when in point of elegance, 
poetic spirit and descriptive colouring, he 
holds them equal to the productions of Pe- 
trarch and Dante, (f) In a word, the Stanze 
of Politian have been recognised as a model, 
both with respect to purity of diction and 
harmony of numbers, by succeeding writers of 
the greatest celebrity among his countrymen ; 
and from them Tasso himself is confessed to 
have borrowed many of the beauties of his 
imagery and style. 

Some of Politian's poetical effusions of a 
date yet mure early than his " Stanze," afford 
grounds for conjecture that at the period when 
they were composed, he was neither in pos- 
session of the substantial rewards of literary 
merit, nor encouraged to look up to any de- 
finite patron in full confidence of obtaining 
them. It is from his Epigrams, many of which 
will hereafter be recalled to public notice, 
that this inference is to be drawn. One 
of these addressed " ad Fontium" and marked 



renzo de' Medici il Benivieni e il Poliziano, furono i primi i 
quali cominciassero nel comporre a ritirarsi e discostarsi dal 
volgo." (Lo stesso.) 

(f) " Rythmis prasterea Hetruscis Franciscum Petrar- 
cam et Dantem elegantia et vi poetica, nee seriptura tantum 
sed pictura earum rerum quas exprimit facile asquavit." 
Joan. Fran. Pici Epistolar : Lib. iii. Operum, Vol. ii. p. 858. 
" Chiunque Ie Stanze per la Giostra, &c. legge vede indu- 
bitatamente in esse il prototipo di Torqaato Tasso che ne 
ha esaurite le bellezze delle imagini e dello stile." Editors of 
** Poesie del Magnifico Lorenzo de' Medici e di suoi Amici s 
SfC 4to. In Londra, 1801. Preface, p. vij. 

D 2 



ii 



20 MEMOIRS OF 

as the performance of his thirteenth year, 
seems to imply that his ardour for the wreath 
of poetic excellence was in danger of heing 
utterly extinguished by the dread of that 
poverty which in every age has been its too 
frequent concomitant. 

Dulce mihi quondam studium fuit; invidased me 
Paupertas laceros terruit uncta sinus. 

Nunc igitur quoniam vates sit fabula vulgi, 
Esse reor satius cedere temporibus. 



Dear was the Muse ; but hateful to my sight 
Chill Penury frowns in greasy, tatter'd plight. 
Now, since a bard's the jest of every tongue, 
I hold it best to quit the scenes of song. 

Some of his verses addressed u AdXystum 
Cardinalem" speak a language no less une- 
quivocal. The final issue of our young poet's 
call upon this Cardinal's liberality may be 
probably inferred from another of these lusus 
ingenii, which equally bespeaks his felicity in 
the turn of an epigram, and the ill success of 
his suit, (g) But if he really experienced the 
pecuniary difficulties of which he seems to 
complain, they were no doubt of a very tem- 
porary continuance, and soon dissipated by 
the liberality of his patron, and the happy 
effects of his own increasing celebrity. 



(g) Verba dedi Xysto, decet haec dare dona poetam, 
./Kra decet Xystum reddere, verba refert. 
Veruin babel ilfe alios, qui dent sibi verba, fatemur, 
ALra. tamen qui nunc det mihi, nullus adest. 



POLITIAN. 21 

Before we proceed to take a view of Politian 
in his public character, and to notice those 
works to which his professional duties may be 
supposed to have given rise, it may not be im- 
proper to add a few transient remarks upon 
some others of his Italian poems which have 
had the good fortune to survive to our times. 
His " Orfeo, Tragedia," is generally allowed 
to be the earliest effort towards a regular 
dramatic composition known to exist in the 
Italian Language. It is supposed to have 
been written so early as the year 1472, at 
which time the author could have barely corn- 
pleated the eighteenth year of his age.- Poli- 
tian composed the " Orfeo" at Mantua, in 
the short space of two days ; and amidst the 
tumultuous festivities of a court ; for the en- 
tertainment of the Cardinal Francesco Gon- 
zaga and his train, before whom it was there 
represented. (/?) At this exhibition there is some 
authority for supposing that Giovanni Pico 
of Mirandola and his brother Galeotto were 
present, but at such a period it is manifest these 
princes must have been very young. This pro- 
duction contains some elegant specimens "del 
Toscano Ditirambo ,, a species of poem derived 
from the Greeks, in which a bold licence is 



(h) " La Fabula di Orfeo, la quale a requisizione del 
" nostro Reverendissimo Cardinale Mantuano in tempo di 
" duo giorni intra continui tumulti, in stilo vulgare, perche 
" dagli spettatori fusse meglio intesa, avevo composta, &c." 
Ang. Poliziano a Messer Carlo Canale. This notice is fur- 
nished by II Padre Ireneo Affb on the authority of the 
Abbate Bettinelli. The latter derived it from the Storia 
MS. di Mantova dell' Amadei. See the preface of Ireneo 
AfFo to his edition of the " Orfeo," 4to. Venez. 1776, for 
this, and many other particulars relating to this Drama, 



22 MEMOIRS OF 

admitted with regard to words and figures and 
all kinds of measures are promiscuously in- 
termixed, (i) The first introduction of this 
kind of verse, which it is supposed was alike 
unknown before to the Italians and Latins, is 
attributed to Politian ; though the credit of it 
has been erroneously ascribed to poets of later 
times. . 

Politian 's Canzone, entitled " Le Menio- 
rie Deliziose," has been pronounced superior 
to many, and inferior scarcely to any of those 
of Petrarch, (k) A variety also of the most 
elegant " Canzone a ballo" are thought to be 
the offspring of Politian 's pen. The tew spe- 
cimens, in short, of his talents in the compo- 
sition of Tuscan poesy which are still extant, 
cannot fail to excite in the breast of their 
reader a sincere regret for the loss of those that 
have perished. 



(?) " II Ditirambo e un componimenlo mescolato d' 
" ogni sorta di versi e di metri, e ripieno di stranissime frasi 
" e locuzioni ; e benehe per lo piu si faccia in lode di Bac- 
" co nondimeno non e vietato trattare in esso anche altre 
" materie capaci d' esser maneggiate con estro gagliardissimo 
" e con ismoderata licenza. Fgli per quanlo noi stimiamo, 
" non prima del tempo d' Angelo Poliziano capito dalla 
u Grecia (non sappiamo che fusse in uso appo i Latini) nella 
" Toscana come abbiam detto nella nostra Istoria, &c." 
Crescimbeni Connnentarii all' Istoria del/a Pocsia Italiana. 
The edition of Mr. Mathias, Vol. ii. p, 78, 8vo, in Londra, 
1803. 

[k) This poem, the beauties of which it would not 
perhaps be easy to transfuse inlo the English language, the 
lover of Italian Literature may find amongst the " Compo- 
" nimenti Lirici de* piu illustri Poeti d' Italia scelti da T. J. 
" Mathias in trci rolumi, Svo. in Londra delta Stamperia di 
" Buhner, 1802:" a selection which does honour to the 
critical discrimination of the learned Editor, and is recom- 
mended by the exquisite beauty of the typography. 



POLITIAN. 23 

It has been asserted that many of his Ita- 
lian poems hitherto inedited are yet preserved 
in the libraries of Florence and Rome, espe- 
cially in the Bibliotheca Chmana of the last 
mentioned city : which, says Crescimbeni, " se 
" fossero uscite alia publica vista, anche ques- 
" to secolo nel colmo della barbarie potrebbe 
" van tarsi d avere avuto un Lirico di somma 
" estimazione." 

Politian's " Le Montanine" is a poem per- 
haps less worthy to be distinguished from the 
rest of those which are given as the undis- 
puted productions of his pen for its compara- 
tive excellence than for its brevity. It pos- 
sesses however, a characteristic simplicity 
which may possibly recommend it to the ap- 
probation of the critical reader. 



LE MONTANINE. 



SESTINA IRREGOLARE. 



Vaghe le Montanine, e Pastorelle 
Donde venite si leggiadre e belle ? 

Vegnam da Y alpe presso ad un boschetto ; 
Piecola capannella e il nostro sito; 
Col padre e con la madre in picciol letto, 
Dove natura ci ha sempre nudrito. 
Torniam la sera dal prato fiorito, 
Che abbiam pasciute nostre pecorelle. 

Qual e '1 paese dove nate siete, 

Che si bel frutto sovra ogni altro luce ? 



24 MEMOIRS OF 

Creature d' Amor voi mi parete, 
Tanta e la vostra faccia che riluce. 
Ne oro, ne argento in voi non luce, 
E mal vesfcite, e parete angiolelle. 

Ben si posson doler vostre bellezze 
Poi che fra valli e monti le mostrate ; 
Che non e terra di si grandi altezze 
Che voi non foste, degne ed onorate : 
Ora mi dite, se vi contentate 
Di star nell' alpe cosi poverelle. 

Piu e contenta ciascuna di noi 

Gire alia mandria drieto alia pastura, 
Piu che non fate ciascuna di voi 
Gire a danzare dentro a vostre mura. 
Ricchezza non cerchiam, ne piu ventura, 
Se non be* fiori, e facciam grillandelle. 



Maids of these hills, so fair and gay, 

Say whence you come, and whither stray ? 

From yonder heights : our lowly shed 
Those clumps that rise so green disclose; 

There by our simple parents bred, 
We share their blessing and repose, 
Now evening from the flowery close 

Recals where late our flocks we fed. 

Ah ! tell me in what region grew 

Such fruits transcending all compare ! 

Methinks I Love's own offspring view, 
Such graces deck your shape and air ; 
Nor gold nor silver glitter there : 

Mean your attire, yet angels you. 






POLITIAtf. 25 



Yet well such beauties might repine 
Mid desart hills and vales to bloom ! 

What scenes where pride and splendor shine, 
Would not your brighter charms become ! 
But say — with this your Alpine home 

Can ye content, such bliss resign ? 

Far happier we, our fleecy care 
Trip lightly after to the mead ! 

Than pent in city walls, your fair 
Foot the gay dance in silks array'd : 
Nor wish have we, save who shall braid 

With gayest wreaths her flowing hair. 



Politian having been appointed preceptor 
to the children of Lorenzo de' Medici, a do- 
mestic incident of no extraordinary kind gave 
rise to that epistolary address to his patron 
which occurs amongst his prose works under 
the title " De Ira." It may perhaps be thought 
that his pen, was, on this occasion, guided 
rather by partiality and prejudice than sound 
reasoning. Certain it is that the scholar, whose 
early promise he was willing to regard in so 
auspicious a light, did not eventually justify 
his preceptor's fond expectations. Yet does 
this epistle contain a variety of remarks which 
commend themselves to the notice of those 
who are employed in the work of education, 
and entitle the author to the praise of having 
seriously reflected on the nature of that im- 
portant office in which he found himself en- 
gaged. 

" The Poet Accius," says Politian, " be- 






26 MEMOIRS OF 



ing in his juvenile days on a certain time at 
Tarentum, paid a visit of civility to Pacu- 
vius, who was then far advanced in age, 
and confined by a lingering infirmity. At 
the request of the latter, Accius read to him 
his tragedy, intitled "Atreus." Pacuvius 
is said to have praised the lofty tone of his 
numbers, and the poetic fire with which they 
were animated, but thought them rather harsh 
and crude. In this judgment Accius acqui- 
esced, but declared it did not discourage 
him; for that he despaired not of writing bet- 
ter at some future time. Genius, he added, 
partaking of the imperfections of fruit in a 
state of immaturity, like it, acquires due 
mellowness and flavour from time alone : 
or if it attain an unnatural precocity, must 
at as early a period wither and decay. But 
what, you will say, is to be inferred from this 
narration. — The human mind, Lorenzo! has 
other symptoms, at first appearance equally 
unpromising, which the wise may yet con- 
sider as pledges of future excellence. Such 
possibly might be that storm of passion late- 
ly excited in your little son, my pupil ; of 
which, as it arose from reproof and disgrace 
I cannot disapprove. You require some 
reasons for my opinion. Expect not then 
an unqualified eulogy on anger ; though 
philosophers tell us nature has not implanted 
in us this passion in vain : that it is not 
only an incentive to fortitude, but consti- 
tutes a part of that virtue : or if it be a vice, 
is to be deemed one of the least ; as deviat- 
ing least from the course of reason ; agree- 
ably to Aristotle's definition. It is a just 
observation of Horace, 



POLITIAN. 27 

• Vitiis nemo sine nascitur ; optimus ille est 
* Qui minimis urgetur/ 

" Why then should anger in a child 
altogether shock or offend us ; in whom, 
assuredly, the contrary quality, or what 
the Greeks term uopyvigia, is to be depre- 
cated no less than sluggishness in a young 
steed : for such a temperament cannot be 
the result of reason at so tender an age; and 
must consequently proceed from natural dul- 
ness and imbecility. Heat is deemed by 
naturalists much more agreeable to nature 
than cold : a fact of which, among many 
other things, the seasons are an argument; 
for no sooner, 

' Solvitur acris hyems grata vice veris et Favoni;' 

than the transcendent beauties of nature 
presently revive. The woods are clothed 
with leaves ; the fields adorned with every 
species of flowers and verdure, which re- 
create us with the most agreeable odours. 
The air, now cloudless and serene, is filled 
with the soothing harmony of singing birds : 
the rivulets murmur in their pebbly chan- 
nels : every thing smiles upon the sight, 
everything charms the ear; meadows, fields, 
woods, vallies, animals wild and tame, the 
heaven itself, and if I may so speak, uni- 
versal nature seems to invite our inward 
perceptions and external senses to enjoy the 
admirable spectacle it displays before us. All 
is gaiety and exultation. Summer succeeds ; 
which, abounding more in heat, teems with 
a more copious production of corn and seeds. 
This season is followed by Autumn, 

' Calcatis sordidus uvis/ 
E S 



28 MEMOIRS OF 

who rioting in the abundance of fruitage, 
bears in his wealthy hand the happy horn of 
Amalthea. When rudely to extinguish all 
appears, 

f Glacialis hyems canos hirsuta capillos.' 

But to . return from this excursion ; those 
who approve of total apathy, seem to figure 
to themselves the existence, not of a human 
creature, but of a trunk or a stone ; which 
is in fact a non-existence. Should I select 
as the pupil of my hope and promise, one 
who would hear my instructions with drowsi- 
ness, who must be continually roused, jog- 
ged, spurred, scolded and beaten to atten- 
tion ? Let me first mark, Lorenzo ! as the poet 
says: 

{ Quis cuique dolor victo ; quae gloria palmae.' 

For from such, as in early } 7 ears are so 
constituted, as neither to be influenced by 
praise nor shame, in the opinion of the 
ancient Lacedemonians, nothing excellent 
ought to be expected. Give me, says that 
most judicious of preceptors, Quintilian, a 
youth who weeps when he is foiled, who 
exults when victorious. Nor is he averse 
to a playful disposition, which he considers, 
like this passion of anger under our consi- 
deration, as an argument of a lively and 
vigorous mind. Hence, according to Plu- 
tarch, it became an old adage, * Irani non 
habere, qui men tern non habeant.' Yet 
from the sullen child, none differs more than 
the irritable : the former, malignant, im- 
placable, revengeful, disingenuous ; the lat- 



POLITIAN. 29 

ter hot and fiery, but his resentment is tran- 
sient ; he is placable, forgiving; — such is 
the emotion which is ever predominant in 
those whom nature has endued with a noble 
and liberal mind. 

" You had not inflicted stripes upon your 
son; you had not terrified him by menaces; 
yet by your reproof you extorted tears. 
Why weeps my little Piero, — of what does 
he complain? Of the same thing in his 
degree as the noble spirited Myrmidons, 
the fellow soldiers of Achilles, who wept 
because they could not realize that glory 
of military prowess, which they imaged in 
their minds. ' Erubuit' says the comic 
writer, l salva res est.' Think you not, 
Lorenzo ! this paroxysm of puerile passion 
is the same thing with honourable shame ? 
They spring, if rightly considered, from the 
same motives ; they produce the same effects ; 
they are both the attendants and the hand- 
maids of virtue." \ 

With the charge of superintending the 
education of Lorenzo's children, Politian af- 
terwards combined that of a public professor 
of the Greek and Latin languages in the Flo- 
rentine academy ; an office conferred upon 
him, if we may credit some accounts, not 
merely by the partiality of Lorenzo, but the 
unanimous suffrages of the citizens of Flo- 
rence. He was also presented with the 
freedom of the city, and advanced to the dig- Menckeniu? 
nity of doctor of the civil law. Hitherto uanS!* 
the Greek chair at Florence had been exclu- 
sively filled by a native of Greece. Joannes 
Argyropylus was the first public professor of 
that language, after the institution of the 



30 MEMOIRS OF 

academy. His loss, having on his retirement 
been for a short interval supplied by Theodore 
Gaza, the vacant chair was at length more 
permanently filled by Demetrius Chalcondyles, 
who commenced his learned labours about the 
year 1479- Politian has the credit of being 
the first among the moderns, not of Grecian 
extraction, who professed the Greek language: 
and though Chalcondyles long continued to 
exercise his learned functions at Florence, yet 
his ultimate retirement to Milan has been at- 
tributed to chagrin and jealousy on account 
of the Latin scholar's superior talents and suc- 
cess. (/) 



(I) Mr. Roscoe (Life of Lor. de' Med. vol. ii. p. 
1 10, SfC.J questioning the truth of P. Jovius's story, that 
enmity subsisted between Politian and Chalcondyles, has 
justly remarked that there is no evidence in the writ- 
ings of the former to support the fact. Hody's conclu- 
sion is indeed that Chalcondyles in quitting Florence after 
the death of Lorenzo, was actuated bv motives of this per- 
sonal kind. " Sive aemnlj sui insolentia pertaesus, siveillius 
" gloria in Latinis praesertim Uteris obscurari se aegre ferens, 
" Mediolanum secessit, a Ludovico Sfortia accitus." (Dc 
Grctcis illmtribus.) 

Mr. Tenhove, it appears not on what authority, asserts 
that the personal animosities of Chalcondyles and Politian 
were so violent as to be with difficulty restrained within the 
bounds of decorum by Lorenzo himself: and records a wit- 
ticism of the Greek scholar, in allusion perhaps to Politian's 
personal deformities: "That the ancient owi was an em- 
" blem of wisdom, whilst the modern one had only its eyes, 
" its plumage, and its beak." (See Sir R. Clayton's Me- 
moirs of Tenhove, Vol. I. p. 333, fyc) Menckenius not 
only asserts that Politian was (he open and fortunate rival of 
Demetrius Chalcondyles, but deduces various inferences 
from the supposed fact, whieh, if his hypothesis be false, 
must fall with it. To this circumstance he ascribes the ge- 
neral hatred which (according to him) all the scholars of 
Greek extraction manifested against the person and charac- 



POLITIAN. 31 

The celebrity of Politian's name and ta- 
lents was soon diffused more widely ; and such 
additional lustre did it reflect on the literary 
institution of Florence, that students of the 
first distinction began to resort thither from 
all parts of Europe. An author, who it must . r ... 

li j i. ^i! u Vanllas, An- 

however be owned, has more than once been ecdot. de Fior. 
convicted of dealing in extravagancies, does \ijl' lv * p ' 
not scruple to assert that more than five hun- 
dred young gentlemen of the first quality con- 
stituted his auditory, and constantly perform- 
ed the respectful ceremony of attending him 
both to and from the public schools, (w) How- 
ever this might be, there is at least indubitable 
evidence that manv of those who in the suc- 
ceeding age became the most successful vin- 



ter of Politian. Hence, says he, his violent dissension with 
Michael Marullus, who acted the part of an open enemy, 
while Joannes Lascaris exercised that of a more insidious 
and secret one; by undervaluing Politian's Greek version of 
the Epigram " De Hermaphrodite," attributed to an ancient 
poet of the name of Pulex (a Pulice poeta vetustiore) and 
publishing a rival version of his own. 

(in) For the truth of this story, so honourable to Politian, 
Menckenius himself dares not vouch ; but he thinks it not 
improbable, since Philippus Beroaldus, a professor of Bolog- 
na, whose talents were by no means equal to those of his 
literary friend and correspondent, Politian, had an auditory 
consisting of six hundred students. Witness his own words : 
" Testes sunt Scholastici sexcenti, testis est pulpitum illud 
** ex quo quotidie profitemur, me identidem esse prasconem 
" et buccinatorem tuae singularis eruditionis." Beroaldi ad 
Pol. Epist. ap Epist. Pol. Lib. vi. ep. 2. " But be this as it 
" might," adds Menckenius, " satis tamen ad gloriam vel 
" iste habuit discipulorum numerum, praesertim cum illos 
" etiam non raro in audientium subselliis conspexerit quibus 
" ipse olim usus fuerat praeceptoribus." ( Not. p. 64, spqq. 
ad vitam Pol. Confer etiam Politiani ad Puccium Ep. Lib. vi; 
ep. 5. 



32 MEMOIRS OF 

dicators of learning by their public labours or 
private researches, were in the number of stu- 
dents who profited by his personal instructions. 
The names of Scipio Carteromachus (w) of 
Pistoja, Joannes Baptista Egnatius, (0) Ra- 
phael Volaterranus, (p) Varinus, orPhavorinus 



(») The literary talents of Scipio Carteromachus, of 
Pistoja, appear from his " De Laudibus Graecarum Litera- 
rum Oratio," Vend. 1504, and Bas. ap. Frob. excusa; also 
Baruthi, 1690, and prefixed by H. Stephanus to his Thesau- 
rus Grcecce Linguce. A few Greek epigrams of his occur, 
some of which relate to the works published by Aldus Ma- 
nutius. He rendered into Latin " Aristidis Smyrnaei de Lau- 
dibus Urbis, Rom. Orat." and a Greek epigram of his is 
prefixed ioVarini Phavorini CamertisThesauriisseuCornucopia 
Ling. Grcecce. Having laid the foundation of his studies at 
Rome and Florence, he became professor of the Belles Let- 
tres at Padua, Venice, Ravenna and Rome. (Vid. Pier. 
Valerian, de infelicitate Literator. Bayle. Giornali de' Lette- 
rati d* Italia, fyc.) Carteromachus in a Greek epigram 
addressed to Politian, terms him 

Eij /xsy Afiyjvan QtXroiTo;, ii$ It cro<po<;. 

His Latin verses in praise of his preceptor afford a testi- 
mony no less flattering of the high estimation in which his 
instructions were held by the students at Florence. See 
them subjoined to his letter to Politian. Lib. xii. ep. 22. 

(o) Joannes Baptista Egnatius, of Venice, was a dis- 
tinguished restorer of letters. He was, according to some 
accounts, Politian's scholar many years, and was one of 
those who afterwards came nearest to equal the celebrity of 
his master. His " de Principibus Romanorum libri," have 
procured him a place amongst the " Historiae Augustas 
Scriptores." Vid. Teissier Eloges, $c. ct T/iuwii Histor. Lib. 
xii. 

(p) Raphael Volaterranus (a patria sic dictus), holds as 
a scholar a no less honourable rank than the former. His 
work, entitled " Commentarii Urbani," Menckenius terms 
'* immensi laboris opus." See Politian's Greek letter ad- 
dressed to him, ap. Pol. Epist. Lib, xii. cp. 20. 



POLITIAN. 33 



Camertes, (q) Petrus Crinitus, (r) and our 
own illustrious countrymen William Grocyn($) 
and Thomas Linacer, (/) with others, are suf- 



(q) Phavorinus, surnained Camertcs from the place of 
his birth, was, according to Menckenius, elevated by LeoX. 
to the bishopric of Nocera. He was a favourite scholar of 
Politian, and much in his confidence. I id. Pol. Epist. Va- 
rino Thcsauru Cornucopia-, Sf-c. prefixam : also Mattaire An- 
nal. torn. i. p. 246, note a. A Greek epigram addressed to 
him by Politian, to be found inter Epigr. Gr. Po/itiani, and 
also prefixed Dictionario Grceco Phavorini, is said to have 
been inscribed on Phavorinus's tomb. ( Vid. Ughellum in 
Itai. Sacra, torn. i. p. 1072. Giornali dc' Letterati d' Ital. 

(r) Petrus Crinitus is well known as a polished and 
elegant writer, who successfully imitated the eloquence of 
his preceptor. He distinguished himself by his books " de 
Honesta Disciplina," and " de Poetis Latinis." He was, 
according to Jovius, one of the most eloquent of Politian's 
scholars ; and was chosen to succeed him m tne professor's 
chair at Florence. He testified his veneration for the me- 
mory of his master by a Latin epigram, and two letters ad- 
dressed to Alexander Sartius. Apud Pol. Ep. Lib. xii. 

(s) W. Grocyn, said to have been a native of Bristol, 
was born in 1 442. He received the first rudiments of his 
education at Oxford. Afterwards visiting Italy he studied 
two years at Florence under Chalcondyles and Politian. He 
became on his return professor of Greek and Latin at Ox- 
ford. Grocyn maintained a close literary intimacy with 
Colet, Lilly, and Latimer, (who are also said to have ac- 
quired their skill in the learned languages abroad) as well as 
with Erasmus and other principal scholars of the age. No- 
thing of his appears to be extant except a Latin epistle 
addressed to Aldus Manutius on the subject of their young 
friend Thomas Linacer; Some ascribe this literary barren- 
ness to his over fastidiousness in composition. Vid. Epp. 
Erasmi. Wood's Athena. Ereind Histor. Medicines, Opcrum, 
p. 359. Par. 1735, 4to. 

(t) Thomas Linacer was born at Dover, A. D. 1460, 
became a member of All Souls College, Oxford, in 1 484. 
Going abroad he very successfully studied the Greek and 
Latin languages at Florence under Chalcondyles and Poli- 

F 



54 MEMOIRS OF 

ficient to immortalize the professional fame 



tian ; and was treated with peculiar courtesy by Lorenzo de* 
Medici. He afterwards visited Rome, and formed a friend- 
ship with Hermolaus Barbarus. Linacer, as Mattaire be- 
lieves, was the first Englishman who attempted to translate 
Greek authors into Latin. He began with Proclus de Sphaera, 
which having carefully revised he inscribed on his return 
home to Arthur, Prince of Wales, son of Henry VII. who 
became his pupil ; and it was published with other similar 
treatises by Aldus, A. D. 1499. He studied with great 
attention the works of Aristotle, and it is supposed he and 
his friends Latimer and Grocyn once cherished a design of 
forming a complete version of them. Afterwards taking up 
the profession of medicine, he produced a very elegant Latin 
translation of Galen " de Sanitate Tuenda," which he pub- 
lished A. D. 1517, and inscribed to Henry VII. who had 
appointed him his physician. This was followed by various 
other versions from the same author. His translation of 
Galen " de Morbis Curandis Libri XIV." was on its pub- 
lication recommended by the following epigram from the 
pen of Janus Lascaris. 

Omnigenos Paean suetum te pellere morbos 

In Latio, et Diti subtrahere arte animas, 

Desidem ubi et bardum vidit, facunde Galene, 

Posthabitumque aliis quos memorare piget ; 

Dixit prospiciens populis; " Age, mysta Linacre, 

Redde virum ingratis quamlibet Ausoniis, 

Tam sibi, quam proavis, qui dogmata prisca relinquunt, 

Tricisque involvunt ingenia et tenebris." 

Haec Deus. At Thaumas afflatus numine, talem 

Te vertit, qualem Gra^cia culta tulit. 

Linacer composed a grammar of the Latin tongue in English 
for the use of Prince Arthur, his pupil; which was trans- 
lated into Latin by Buchanan, and printed by R. Steph. 
1536. As a philologist however he ranks more highly on 
account of his '■ De Emendata Latini Sermonis Structura 
Libri vi." first published by R. Pynson, in 1524-. He gave 
a very salutary check to the mischiefs originating from the 
ignorance and empiricism of unqualified medical practition- 
ers, by projecting and founding under the patronage of the 
King and Wolsey, the Royal College of Physicians, for 
which institution he drew up laws and regulations, and 
over which he first presided. He also founded medical 
professorships at Oxford and Cambridge. Having in the 
latter part of his life entered into holy orders, he died at an 
advanced age, October 21, 1524. Vide Fremdut supra. 



POLITIAN. 35 

and talents of Politian, whilst the writings of 
many of them furnish the most grateful and 
unequivocal testimonies how much they es- 
teemed and profited by so able an instructor. 
Politian's ode, addressed " Ad Juventutem," 
which in vigour and animation is scarcelv infe- 
rior to the finest of his poetical productions, 
derives additional interest from the reality of 
that character which he therein assumes. 

Jam cornu gravidus, praecipitem parat 
Afflatus subitis frigoribus fugam 
Autumnus pater, et deeiduas sinu 
Frondes excipit arborum. 

Cantant emeritis, Bacche, laboribus 
Te nunc agricolae, sed male sobrios 
Ventosae querulo murmure tibiae 
Saltatu subigunt frui. 

Nos anni rediens orbita sub jugum 
Musarum revocat, dulce ferentibus, 
Porrectisque monent sidera noctibus 
Carpamus voLucrem diem. 

I mecum, docilis turba, biverticis 
Parnassi rapidis per juga passibus, 
Expers quo senii nos vocat, et rogi, 
Consors gloria coelitum. 

Nam me seu comitem, seu, juvenes ! ducem 
Malitis, venio : nee labor auferet 
Quaerentem tetricas difficili gradu 
Virtutis penetralia. 






36 MEMOIRS OF 

See ! bow'd with blushing fruits, a cumbrous load, 
Grey Autumn shrinks, while Boreas raves, 
ChillM with the blast; the arid leaves 

Deciduous, his impatient lap receives : — 
Thee Bacchus ! thee, the jolly God 

Now grateful rustics sing ; their labours o'er ; 
No sober train ; while to the sound 
Of stridulous pipe, in aukward round, 

Staggering, ill-measur'd footsteps beat the ground 
In frantic dance, and wild uproar. 

Us, — while the year fast waning, melts away, 

The pensive hour again invites 

To Poesy's sublime delights : 
And deepening shades, and star-illumin'd nights, 

Bid us improve the fleeting day. 

Together, Friends belov'd ! with eager speed, 
We'll climb the rude Parnassian steep : 
Praise, that defies death's leaden sleep, 

And can with Gods immortal vigils keep, 
Shall prove the laurell'd poet's meed. 

Your leader, — or associate, — lo I come ; 

Nor shall my unwearied feet betray 

Unmanly fear, or cold delay, 
Nor ought deter me from the arduous way 

That leads to Glory's sacred dome. 

That Picus, of Mirandula, when his tem- 
porary visits to Florence rendered it practica- 
ble, took a pleasure in attending the public 
lectures of Politian, there is sufficient evidence 
to prove. But him Politian was careful to 
recognize by no means in the inferior charac- 



POLITIAN. 37 

ter of a disciple, but rather on the more ho- 
nourable footing of a literary friend, (y) 

Of all Politian's Latin poems at present 
known to be extant, his " Sylvje" are the 
most considerable and elaborate. These, like 
the greater part of his other composition c 
afford ample testimony of their author's learn- 
ing, which they seem calculated to display, 
even to ostentation. With whatever imper- 
fections of taste, or occasional deviations from 
the strictest purity of the Latin style they 
may be charged, they have very justly and 
efficaciously contributed to Politian's fame; 
and entitle him to the praise of the earliest 
and most successful restorer of Latin poesy, 
after the age of Petrarch and Dante. 

Of these Sylvan, that entitled " Rusti- 
cus" was first written, (w) The precise time 



(v) On some particular occasion of this sort we find 
him addressing Picus in the following singular and laconic 
epistle. 

ANGELUS POLITIANUS, to his beloved PICUS of 
MIRANDULA. 

Although with the intention of doing me honour, you 
lately took a seat amongst my auditory, expect not my 
verbal acknowledgments. If I had the good fortune to 
please you, the obligation is sufficiently acknowledged ; if 
otherwise, I have little reason to congratulate myself on 
your attendance. Adieu. 

Epist. Lib. xii. ep. 3. 

(w) Politian's " Rusticus" was inscribed to Jacobus . 
Salviatus, probably one of Politian's scholars, and son-in-law 
of Lorenzo de' Medici. In this composition Menckenius 
thinks he had an eye to the second book of Hesiod in parti- 
cular. It was subjoined to an edition of Hesiod, published 
Basil. 1539, in 8vo. ap. Mich. Isingrinum. vid. Mattaire 
Annul, torn. iii. p. 305. It is also added to Renati Rapini 
Hortorum Lib. iv. Lugd. Bat. 1668, 12mo. An early 
edition of Politian's " Rusticus" was published Parisiis, ex 



38 MEMOIRS OF 

of its composition cannot now perhaps be 
ascertained ; but it certainly in this respect 
claims precedency of most of those which 
were the productions of his maturer years. 
Contrasted with the other iC Sylvae" of Poli- 



Ojjicind J B. Ascensii in folio, sine anno, with the commen- 
taries of Nicol. Beraldu;; and again, Basilta ap. Fruben. 
1518, in 4-to. To these editions are prefixed or subjoined 
several commendatory poems by Qaintianus Stoa, Gerardus 
Vercellanus, and J. Ravisius Textor ; in which the anno- 
tator comes in for at least an equal share of praise with the 
poet. One of these, by J. Ravisius Textor, is here cited 
from Menckenius for the entertainment of the reader. 

RUSTICUS. POLITIANUS. 

R. Angele dormitas ? P. Quis tu ? R. Tua Rusticus. P. 

ohe \ 
Vix puto. R. Compositas inspice ruris opes. 
J\ " Ruris opes saturi" quamvis in limine portes 

Tu tamen es proprio dissimilis domino. 
R. Cur ? P. Quoniam gemmae te circumquaque venustant, 

Sed dominum modicae non nisi ruris opes. 
R. Miraris? P. Miror. Sed quid peregrina vagaris ? 
R. Me profugi quaerit solis uterque locus. 
P. Cur ? R. Sum grata viris; nam commentarius iste 

Quo cingdr numeris convenit Angelicis, 
P. Quis tibi Ruris opes, et agreste poema gerenti, 

Regales potuit tradere divitias ? 
R. Calliopes sponsus, doctae conviva Minervae, 

Castaliae potus rore Beraldus aquas. 
P. Quae tulit hunc tellus ? R. Aurelia. P. Delphica 
tellus ! 

Si Phoebi quaeris dogmata, Phcebus adest. 

The commentator with whom Politian is here made to ex- 
press himself so well satisfied, was Nicolaus Beraldus nobi- 
lissimus Gallorum, ineunte Sec. xvi. Grammaticus ! The 
commentary is preceded by " Beraldi praelectio in Ang. Polit. 
Rusticum, habita Lutetia?, in Tricovensi Gymnasio;" in 
which he speaks thus honourably of Politian and his poem : 
" Profecto si Politiani ingenium, linguarum peritiam, singu- 
" larem incredibilemque eloquentiam ac nitorem, et laten- 
" tern in Sylvac hujus non modo versibus, sed (pa?ne dixe* 
" ranv) singulis verbis, rcconditam doctrinam non popular* 



POLITIAN. 39 

tian, it may however be questioned whether 
it merits not the palm of excellence ; since 
whilst in correctness and brilliancy of lan- 
guage it is not perhaps inferior to the " Manto" 
and " Ambra," it surpasses them in origina- 
lity. 

These poems were all composed for acade- 
mical purposes, and publicly recited by Poli- 
tian at the commencement of his professional 
lectures on the works of those ancient authors 
to which they respectively relate. The "Hus- 
ticus," which was introductory to his public 
lectures on the works of Hesiod and Virgil's 
Georgics, commences with a summary expla- 
nation of its object, and an appropriate invo- 
cation of Pan, the god of shepherds, and the 
patron of a rural life. 

Ruris opes saturi, gnavoque agitanda colono 

Munera, et omniferae sacrum telluris honorem, 

Ludere septena gestit mea fistula carina : 

Fistula, Mantoae quam nuper margine ripae 

Ipse renidenti dum dat mihi Tityrus ore, 

Hac, puer, Ascraeum repete, inquit, arundine carmen. 

Pan ades ! and curvi mecum sub fornice saxi 

Versibus indulge, medio dum Phoebus in axe est, 

Dam gemit erepta viduatus compare turtur, 

Dum sua torquati recinunt dictata palumbes. 

Hie resonat blando tibi pinus amata susurro : 

Hie vaga coniferis insibilat aura cupressis : 

Hie scatebris salit, et bullantibus incita venis 



** trutina. expendemus, examinabimusque, dignus videbitur 
" qui multis veterum non conferatur modd, sed etiam pras- 
•* feratur." Beraldus promised commentaries on the ™ Man- 
to/' and " Ambra," but Menckenius knows not whether 
they ever appeared. Vid. Mencken, in vita Pol. 



40 MEMOIRS OF 

Pura coloratos interstrepit unda lapillos : 
Hie tua vicinis ludit lasciva sub umbris 
Jamdudum nostri captatrix carminis Echo. 



The country's stores I sing, the rustic's toil, 
And sacred honours of the all-fruitful soil. 
This pipe of Mantuan reeds, this vocal frame 
Which Tityrus gave, demands the appropriate theme. 
Take this (as erst on Mincio's banks I stray) 
He smiling said, and wake the Ascraean lay. 
Thou Pan ! embower'd by this rude arche's shade 
From Sol's high noon, my labours deign to aid ; 
Reft of his mate, what time the turtle mourns, 
And ring-doves chaunt their amorous call by turns. 
Here thy lov'd pine its soothing whisper lends ; 
Here to each breeze the berried cypress bends ; 
Pellucid here, from bubbling springs supplied, 
O'er colour'd pebbles ripples hoarse the tide ; 
Whilst thy own Echo, hark ! with wanton tongue, 
From yonder grove already mocks my song, 

Proceeding to expatiate in general on the 
unambitious and tranquil tenour of a rural 
life, contrasted with the intrigues, jealousies, 
and distractions incident to more popular 
scenes ; and on that health, enjoyment and 
hardy vigour, which the labours and recrea- 
tions of the rustic equally tend to procure ; 
he afterwards enters into a more particular 
detail of all those objects and occupations 
which are peculiar to the country ; beginning 
with the commencement of winter. 



POUTIAN. 41 



Protinus extremo cum jam Boreas autumno 
Incubuit terris, primo cum frigore tactae 
Labuntur frondes, maternaque brachia linquunt, 
Nee cariem caesse formidant robora silvae : 
Ecce sagax tacilam venientis rusticus anni 
Curam corde coquit, qua bubus ab arbore plaustrum 
Dedolet, unde juga et curvum fabricetur aratrum. 
Nee mora, quin veteris truncata cacumina fagi, 
Chaoniaeque cadant quercus, nudataque ramos 
Ulmus, et audaci laurus sonet icta securi ; 
Quarum quaeque novam fumo explorata calenti 
Vertitur in faciem, diversaque munia tractant. 



When Boreas, scarce the autumnal season past, 
Scowls o'er the scene, first nipt by winter's blast 
When falling leaves desert the parent spray, 
And sapless fell'd, the timber braves decay, 
With anxious foresight, lo ! the clown severe 
Ponders the labours of the approaching year : 
The firm-built wain what grove may best bestow, 
Whence he the shaft may form or curving plow. 
Redoubled strokes the beechen honours rend, 
Chaonian oaks with ponderous fall descend, 
Thy severed limbs, proud elm, bestrew the ground, 
And laurels with the audacious stroke resound. 
Each season'd by his chimney's reeking fumes 
Its plastic form, and varied use assumes. 

Thus provided with the necessary imple- 
ments of husbandry, Politian conducts his 
experienced rustic through the hardy toils of 
ploughing, and depositing in the fertile earth 
the seeds of future harvests. Still as days and 
months revolve they bring with them their 
appropriate labours ; while the poet is careful 



42 MEMOIRS OF 

to characterize the lapse of time and the pro- 
gress of the year by no incidents but such as 
are beautifully apposite, and often bespeak 
a novelty which does great honour to his own 
genius, observation, and inventive powers. 
Thus the season for sowing certain seeds, and 
performing other labours, is described to be 
when the Mulberry unfolds its leaves : 

MORUS 

Ante quidem sapiens, nunc ambitiosa, nee ullum 
Quae pariat pomum, sed serica pensa ministret. 



The Mulberry once discreet ; her pride alone 
A mother's duty ; late ambitious grown, 
No blushing progeny partake her smiles, 
Devoted to the silk-worm's gaudy toils. 

The delightful and ever varying beauties 
of rural scenery, the inexhaustible fertility of 
teeming nature, her manifold productions, 
animal and vegetable, and the rustic's simple 
but exhilarating festivities and pleasures, af- 
terwards give occasion to a variety of ani- 
mated and glowing descriptions in this poem. 
Politian, however, as if solicitous to leave 
nothing of this kind unnoticed, resembles a 
painter, who crowds his canvas with an al- 
most infinite multiplicity of figures ; and 
hence the whole assumes an air of indistinct- 
ness and confusion. Yet among this profusion 
of minuter beauties, his description of the 
horse, and we may add of that martial bird, 

M Quiv vigili lucem vocat ore moranlcm/' 



I 

POLITIAN. 45 



are particularly spirited : nor are those lines 
less happily picturesque wherein he paints the 
riotous frolics of the vintage : 

" Ecce autem dulces labris pater ingerit uvas 
Autumnus, crebraeque elisus verbere plantae 
It per praela latex, puerique examine denso 
Exultant, lasciva cohors, circumque, supraque. 
Hie manu panda pronus bibit, alter ab ipso 
Sugit musta lacu crepitantibus hausta labellis. 
Hie sua suspensum resupinus in ora racemura 
Exprimit, hie socii patulos irrorat hiatus, 
Irriguumque mero sordet mentumque, sinusque ; 
Ebriaque incertis titubant vestigia plantis." 



Now father Autumn heaps the wine-vat high; 
Drench'd in rich juice the feet incessant ply ; 
The press o'erflows j with wanton mirth and song 
Above, around, the stripling gazers throng. 
Prone from his open palm one eager sips ; 
This drains the racy vat with smacking lips ; 
This o'er his upward face the bunch suspends 
Compressing ; gaping this the boon attends, 
While purple dregs his chin and vest defile, 
And staggering feet the inebriate throng beguile. 

In fine, the occupations, pleasures, inde- 
pendence and repose of a rural life are pleasr 
ingly delineated in this poem, with all those 
interesting circumstances that are most pro- 
perly adapted to add colouring and beauty to 
the picture. In the conclusion Politian's 
rustic assumes a dignity perhaps unexpected , 
yet not incompatible with his station. 

o 2 



44 MEMOIRS OF 

Ille autem et volucri petit ardua sidera mente; 
Scrutaturque sagax, quae sit sententia divum : 
Quid quasque emergens, latitansve, oriensve, cadensve 
Stella paret, quid quadruplici celer afferat annus 
Cardine, qua3 sulcis, quae sint stata tempora messi, 
Quidque pecus vehat Olenium, qua. grandine colles 
Trux Nepa dilapidet, quo turbine surgat Orion, 
Quos glomerent imbres, aut pressus Arione Delphin, 
Aut Pleas, Arcturusque senex, Hyadesque puellae, 
Unde bibant herbae divini pocula lactis, 
Cur rubigo satis, uredoque vitibus obsit, 
Quid nebulas abigat, tempestatesque repellat. 



To hther now contemplative, he soars 

On reasoning wing, and heaven's high will explores ; 

Stars rising, setting, in the circling sphere 

Latent or seen, and all the changeful year 

Quadruple scans ; what time each crop befriends ; 

What Caper bodes ; what Scorpio fell portends 

Of stormy ruin ; what Orion's rise ; 

When Hyads moist or Pleiads rule the skies, 

The Bear, or tuneful Fish, what showers attend ; 

To herbs what pow'rs their milky juices lend ; 

Whence lurid blights the grain or vines deform, 

Whence clouds disperse ; and what repels the storm. 

It must be owned, however, that pursuing 
this thought, as Politian continues to do, to 
a degree of unreasonable prolixity, he has 
very much weakened its beauty and effect. 
The poet concludes by informing us that this 
production was the fruit of his learned retire- 
ment at Fiesole, and hence a proper occa- 
sion is presented of acknowledging his obliga- 
tions to Lorenzo, the munificent author of 



POLITIAN. 4.5 

his dignified leisure, and whatever rendered it 
more grateful and propitious. 

The plan of Politian's " Man to," which 
was designed as an introduction to his lK Enar- 
rationes in Virgilii Opera," is very properly 
more artificial than that of the " Rusticus." 
Manto, as the poets pretend was daughter of 
Tiresias of Thebes, and like her father endued 
with the spirit of prophecy. After various 
adventures, having taken refuge in Italy, she 
married King Tiberinus, or as some say, the 
river god of that name, by whom she had a 
son denominated Ocnus ; who founded in the 
vicinity of his paternal stream the city which 
afterwards gave birth to Virgil, and called it 
Mantua, in honour of his mother, (.r) The 
poem turns upon the incident of Virgil's birth, 
at which whilst all the muses are assisting, 
Manto is also described as present. She, ac- 
tuated by a sudden impulse of the prophetic 
spirit peculiar to her character, expatiates on 
the future fame of the new-born poet, and 
prospectively enumerates the various subjects 
which shall be immortalized by his muse. 
The " Manto" therefore is little more than a 
rapid and spirited summary of Virgil's several 
productions ; but for its ornaments and dic- 
tion Politian is as little indebted to his origi- 



(x) Venit et Helysio venturi praescia Manto, 

Manto, quse juvenem fluvio conceperat Ocnum, 
Ocnum, qui matris dederat tibi Mantua nomen. 
Politiani Manto. 

Thus Virgil, ^Ineid 10. 

Ille etiam patriis agmen ciet Ocnus ab oris, 

Fatidicae Mantus et Tusci filius amnis, 

Qui muros, matrisque dedit tibi Mantua ! nomen. 



AG 



MEMOIRS OF 

nal, as it is possible he should be under the 
like circumstances. Of this poem posterity 
has certainly entertained a more favourable 
opinion than its author, who terms it a crude 
and unpolished performance, composed merely 
for a particular solemnity, and calculated, 
like those insects which are termed ephemeral, 
only for a single day's existence. (3/) It was 
first published A. D. 1482, and is distinguish- 
ed from the other academical poems of Politian 
which bear the common title of " Sylvse," by 
the following beautiful introductory stanzas 
which the reader will not probably be displeased 
to find here cited. 



ANGELI POLITIANI 

SILV^ CUI TITULUS MANTO 

Prefatio. 

Stab at adhuc rudibus Pagaseo in littore rerais, 

Quae ratis undosum prima cucurrit iter: 
Dum tamen extremis haerent succincta ceruehis 

Lintea, dum nautas flamina nulla vocant, 
Conveniunt Minyae gemini Chironis ad antrum, 

Qua fugit obliquo garrula lympha pede. 
Quaque ingens platanus geniahbus excubat umbris, 

Explicat hie faciles rustica mensa dapes. 



(y) " Cogis tu quidem me Laurenti carmen edere in- 
conditum, inemendatuin, et quod in publico semel pronun- 
tiatum nimis fuisse impudens visum sit. Satis profecto fucrat 
vixisse unam diem, quod tarn foret imperfect um animal, ac 
posse etiam inter insecta ilia quae vocentur Ephemera connu- 
jnerari. Namque ego id ad prsesentem duntaxat cclebrita- 
lem quasi Adonidos hortum concinnaveram, &c." Ang % 
VoL Laurent. Medici, I'dri Francisci Filio, 



POLITIAK. 

Cresclt fronde torus, vernant in flore capilli, 

Sed viret Herculeis populus alba comis. 
Dat puer JLacides nivea carchesia dextra, 

Sed suus Alcidae pocula miscet Hylas. 
Finis erat dapibus : citharam pius excitat Orpheus, 

Et movet ad doctas verba canora manus. 
Conticuere viri ; tenuere silentia venti ; 

Vosque retro cursum mox tenuistis aquae. 
Jam volucres fessis pendere sub aethera pinnis, 

Jamque truces videas ora tenere feras. 
Decurrunt scopulis aurita? ad carmina quercus, 

Nudaque Peliacus culmina motat apex. 
Et jam mateino permulserat omnia cantu, 

Cum tacuit ; querulam deposuitque fidem. 
Occupat hanc audax, digitosque affringit Achilles, 

Indoctumque rudi personat ore puer. 
Materiam quaeris ? laudabat carmina blandi 

Hospitis, et tantas murmura magna Iyrae. 
Riserunt Minyae : sed enim tibi dicitur, Orpheu ! 

Hasc pueri pietas grata fuisse nimis. 
Me quoque nunc magni nomen celebrare Maronis, 

(Si qua fides vero est) gaudet et ipse Maro. 



47 



Not yet had left the Pagasaean strand 
That bark, whose rude oar first repell'd the deep, 

Her flagging sails no breezes yet expand, 

But lull'd with specious calms the tardy billows sleep. 

Impatient now to tempt the pathless, main, 

And stem with daring prow the dubious waves, 

In Chiron^ bow'r conven'd, the heroic train 

Where flits a hoarse cascade, the two-form'd chief receives, 






Beneath a branching plane-tree's shade reclin'd, 
Where the green turf luxuriant herbage spread, 



48 MEMOIRS OF 

The warriors sate ; their brows with flowers entwin'd j 
But poplar's lighter green adorn'd Alcides' head. 

Now, round the board, to crown the chearful feast, 
Achilles' youthful hand the goblet bears 

Obsequious, — while to allure the Herculean taste 

Hylas, his well-belov'd, the nectar'd draught prepares. 

The banquet ceasM ; when Orpheus wakes the lyre, 
And tunes to rapturous notes his sacred song, 

Whose magic strains each hero's bosom fire, 

And move to transport all the scarcely breathing throng. 

Hush'd are the winds, entranc'd with strange delight> 
The listening rivers stay their rapid floods ; 

On quivering wing each bird suspends his flight, 
Nor feel their wonted rage the tyrants of the woods. 

Even from the mountain steep the oak descends 
In measur'd cadence to the harmonious lays ; 

While Pelion's hoary summit nodding bends, 
And all his trembling bulk ecstatic joy betrays. 

Thus as the parent Muse his song inspires, 

All nature wondering owns the rapturous theme; 

And now he ceas'd to strike the golden wires, 
And now had laid aside the sweetly tuneful frame. 



With youthful ardour, but unequal hand, 

Achilles tries in turn the warbling strings; 

But its bold sweep unable to command, 

Beneath his feeble touch, the tinkling fabric rings. 

To fainter numbers scarce distinctly heard, 

Ask you what themes the youthful minstrel fire; 



POLITIAN. 49 

He sings the triumphs of the unrivaird bard 

Who sweeps with mightier powers the deeply sounding lyre. 



To arduous themes, while thus in feeble lays 

The youth aspires, — the assembled heroes smil'd ; 

But Orpheus not disdain'd his weak essays, 

As with complacent eye he viewM the graceful child. 

So while to Maro's praise I tune the strain, 
To great attempts my feeble numbers move : 

Yet, though to reach his nights my efforts vain, 

Maro shall hear the song, nor hearing disapprove. 

The " Ambra," which was preparatory to 
PolitiarTs academical lectures on the works of 
Homer, is still more complex in its design 
than either of the preceding. After an intro- 
duction declaratory of the object of the poem, 
Jupiter, attended by all the subordinate dei- 
ties, is represented as paying a festal visit to 
his favourite regions of Ethiopia. On this oc- 
casion the general gaiety and pleasure of the 
august assemblage finds no allay, except in 
the grief of Thetis; who continues inconsola- 
ble for the loss of her son. Jupiter at length 
succeeds in restoring her to cheerfulness, prin- 
cipally by assuring her that a bard shall soon 
arise, who is destined to perpetuate the name 
and actions of Achilles to remotest ages. Ho- 
mer is born. The prodigies attendant on his 
birth, his education and early love of song are 
poetically described. As he grows to maturer 
years, his sensibilities are particularly inter- 
ested by the exploits of heroes. Eager to sing 
the actions of Achilles, an irresistible curiosity 
impels him to call from the tomb the mighty 

H 



50 MEMOIRS OF 

shade of that warrior by magical incantations, 
Achilles appears, clad in all the dreadful splen- 
dour of his celestial armour ; but the bard, 
gazing with peculiar intenseness on his shield, 
and unable to endure its radiance, is stricken 
with blindness. To console him for this mis- 
fortune, Achilles presents him with the staff 
of Tiresias, which inspires him with the ora- 
cular enthusiasm necessary for his arduous 
undertaking. An animated outline follows of 
those immortal productions, the Iliad, and 
Odyssey, but more particularly of the former. 
Politian afterwards expatiates in very fervid 
and glowing language on Homer's varied and 
superlative excellencies, and recommends him 
to his youthful auditory as a finished model in 
every species of poetical composition. The 
apotheosis of the Grecian bard follows ; and 
the poem concludes with a brief, but pleasing 
description of Lorenzo's beautiful villa where 
it was composed, and whence it derives its 
name, (z) The epistle dedicatory prefixed, 
proves the " Ambra" to have been finished 
about the close of the year 1485. 

The Sylva, entitled " Ntjtricia," is of 
all Politian's poetical works the most elaborate. 
This probably was the poem sent by him to 
Matthias, king of Hungary, as a specimen of 
his talents. He terms it " Poema niulta lima 
cruciatum, quod laudes poetical, quod histo- 



(z) The fi Ambra" was inscribed by Politian to Lauren- 
tius Tornabonus, another of his pupils, and a relation of the 
Medicean family. Mr. Roscoe has embellished his M Life ot 
Lorenzo de' Medici," with a masterly translation of the con- 
cluding part of this poem, descriptive of Lorenzo's Villa Ca- 
jana. ride Vol. ii. p. I'JS, 4to. Edit, 



POLITIAN. 51 

riam continet omnium fere vat urn :" (a) and J-J^A 1 ^ 

promises a diffuse commentary upon it, which 

will manifest the extensive and various reading 

required in order to its composition, and shew 

the pains and study it cost him; " Quare," 

he proceeds, " ne quasso numeret Angeli Poli- 

tiani carmina lector, sed ponderer,.*' (/>) 

(a) Ascensius, it appears from his notes on this letter, 
cannot persuade himself that the " Nutricia" was the poem 
sent by Politian to the king of Hungary. " Quod autem 
poemation," says he, " huic regi dicet, quia non nominat, 
in dubio est: ego autem conjectura quadam ducor ut Manto 
opiner esse : nam reliqua aliis prasscripta sunt ; neque cre- 
dam voluisse Una Fidelia duos dealbare parietes." 
But notwithstanding Ascensius's application of the proverb, 
there is little doubt that he was mistaken in his conjecture. 
Not to remark that the word dicet is here wrongly applied ; 
it is least probable that Politian would select the " Manto" 
for this purpose, because he speaks of it himself in terms of 
the least approbation. Of all the poems of Politian that 
remain, the " Nutricia" best answers to the description here 
given. 

(6) Absolutum est hoc carmen in Fsesulano, viii. Idus 
Octobris, 14-S6. (Vid. Carmen- ipsum.) Those commen- 
taries, says Menckenius, which Politian promised, but did 
not produce, were afterwards supplied by a noble German, 
viz. Joan. Ludov. Brassicanus, Jureconsultus egregius 
Tubingensis, in an edition of the " Nutricia/' printed No- 
rimbergae, anno 153S, in 4to. This edition has, in Fronte, 
the following epigram : 

Rosini Cujusdam ad Brassicanum, 

Aonio Musae puerum te fonte rigarunt, 
Hinc tibi Pierii nectaris haustus erat. 
Cynthius aeterna. meritd tua tempora lauro 

Induit, et clari nominis auxit ope. 
Ergo pro mentis gratis Nutritia reddis, 
Hinc Celebris per te sacra poesis erit. 
Tu Musas igitur, Musae celebrare vicissim 
Te satagent, sic par extat utfinque Charis. 
Besides Brassicanus, Franciscus Sanchez, a professor in the 
university of Salamanca, if credit may be attached to the 
catalogue of Draudius, also composed learned annotations on 
the " Nutricia," and other Sylvse of Politian. Vid. Mencken, 

H 2 



52 - MEMOIRS OF 

The same pious duty which incited iEneas 
to perpetuate the memory of his nurse Cajeta, 
by giving her name to an Italian port ; which 
gave rise to the Roman festivals termed 
" Lupercalia ;" which prompted Bacchus to 
exalt his " Nymphae Dodonides;" Jupiter his 
" Amalthasa Nutrix," to their stations among 
the stars, avowedly moves Politian by this 
tuneful tribute to eternize the praise of Poesy, 
(c) whom he holds endeared to himself by a 
like relation. 

To comprehend in a brief analysis any ade- 
quate idea of this elaborate Sylva, would be 
impracticable. Politian's "Rusticus," "Man- 
to," and " Ambra," are calculated chiefly to 
display his critical acquaintance with the works 
of those particular poets to whom they have an 
immediate reference. But in his fC Nutricia," 
he takes a wider range. This production may 
be considered as a history of poesy and poets 
in general. The uses to which this divine art 
has been subservient from remotest times, the 
various subjects which it has been employed to 
celebrate, are here noticed ; and the principal 
bards of every age pass in review before the 
reader, not so much in order of time, as of 
subject ; each briefly, but distinctly, charac- 
terized by the most prominent features of his 
history, or the principal productions of his 



(c) To poesy Politian appropriates all the refining and 
humanizing effects upon mankind in their pristine state of 
rudeness and incivilization, which Cicero in the commence- 
ment of his first book " De Inventionc" as fondly ascribes to 
eloquence. Much indeed of the introductory part of the 
" Nutricia" may be justly considered as an elegant para- 
phrase, or rather amplification of the Roman orator's senti- 
ments and language. 



POLITIAN. 53 

muse. It is impossible on perusing this " Syl- 
va" to repress our admiration of its author's 
unbounded acquaintance with the ancient po- 
ets, and with all those circumstances, real or 
fabulous, that appertain to them, at so early 
a period in the revival of letters, Avhen many 
of these classical remains were but newly res- 
cued from obscurity, and few had as yet ob- 
tained publicity through the medium of the 
press. If the noble libraries of Florence fur- 
nished him with advantages denied to many 
others, it must be acknowledged that he im- 
proved those advantages with a degree of 
diligence and felicity which none could 
exceed. In the latter part of the " Nutricia," 
Dante, Petrarch, and Boccacio receive the 
tribute of due praise ; the latter for his " De- 
cameron," which Politian evidently considers 
as a poetical performance. The poem termi- 
nates with a pleasing enumeration of the vari- 
ous subjects which have employed Lorenzo's 
muse, a flattering eulogy of his poetical pow- 
ers, and a favourable prognostication respecting 
those of young Piero, Lorenzo's eldest son, the 
pupil of Politian. This part of the " Nutri- 
cia" has been elegantly translated and illus- 
trated by Mr. Roscoe, in his life of Lorenzo VoL *• p- 3U - 
de' Medici. 

As Politian's academical poems at present 
form the subject of our particular considera- 
tion, it would be a culpable omission to leave 
unnoticed his admirable verses on the " Exile 
and Death of Ovid ;" which doubtless are to be 
considered as of a similar description ; and 
were probably recited upon the occasion of 
some of his public lectures on the works of 
that poet. Though this poem does not occur 









54 MEMOIRS OF 

in any of the editions of Politian's works, yet 
no doubt can be entertained that it is the au- 
thentic production of this scholar ; and various 
critics have agreed in pronouncing it one of 
the happiest efforts of his classical muse. 



DE EXILIO ET MCRTE OVIDII. 



Et jacetEuxinis vates Romanus in oris: 

Romanum vatem barbara terra tegit. 
Terra tegit vatem, teneros qui Iusit amores, 

Barbara ; quam gelidis alluit Ister aquis. 
Nee, teRoMA, pudet, quae tanto iramitis alumno, 

Pectora habes ipsis barbariora Getis ? 
Ecquis Io ! Musae, Scythicis in finibus aegro 

Taedia qui morbi demeret, ullus erat ? 
Ecquis, frigidulos qui lecto imponeret artus, 

Aut qui dulciloquo falleret ore diem ? 
Aut qui tentaret salientis tempora venae, 

Aut fomenta manu qui properata daret ? 
Conderet aut oculos media jam morte Jiatantes, 

Aut legerefe summam qui pius ore animam ? 
Nullus erat : nullus. Veteres, tu dura, sodales, 

Heu procul a Ponto, Martia Roma, tenes ! 
Nullus erat. Procul ah conjux, parvique nepotes; 

Nee fuerat profugum nata sequuta patrem ! 
Scilicet immanes Bessi, flavique Coralli, 

Aut vos pelliti, saxea corda, Getae ; 
Scilicet horribili dederit solamina vultu 

Sarmata, ab epoto saepc vehendus equo ? 
Sarmata, cui rigidam demisso in lumine frontem 

Mbta pruinoso tempora crine sonant. 
Sed tamen et Bessi extinctum, et flevere Coralli, 

Sarmataque ; et durus conludit ora Getes. 



] 



POLITIAN. 55 

Extinctum et montes flebant, et sylva, feraeque, 

Et flesse in mediis dicitur Ister aquis. 
Quin etiam pigro concretum frigore Pontum 

Nerei'dum lacrymis intepuisse ferunt. 
Accurrere leves Paphia cum matre volucres, 

Arsuroque faces supposuere rogo. 
Quern simul absumpsit rapidae violentia flammac, 

Relliquias tecto composuere cado. 
Impositumque brevi signarunt carmine saxum : 

" Qui jacet hic, teneri doctor amoris erat," 
Ipsa locum late sancto Cytherea liquore 

Irrorat nivea terque quaterque manu. 
Vos quoque, Pierides, vati libastis adempto 

Carmina, sed nostro non referenda sono. 



ON THE EXILE AND DEATH OF OVID. 

And finds the Roman Bard a foreign grave 
Where Euxine rolls the inhospitable wave I 
Thy bard, O Love, by rudest hands inhum'd, 
Sleeps he, near Ister's gelid stream entomb'd ! 
— Those charities, the Get an fierce supplies 
Which Rome, unblushing, to her son denies! 

Far from his natal soil — ye Muses, say 

What sympathies his dying pangs allay ? 

On the bland couch who bids his limbs repose ? 

Who, with sweet converse charms his lingering woes 

Tries with officious hand the salient vein ? 

Or with emollients, hastes to assuage his pain ? 

With death suffus'd, who closes now his eye, 

And bending o'er him marks his parting sigh ? 

Ah ! none — detain'd in regions far remov'd 

Each fond associate, and each friend belov'd. 

Ah ! none — the ill-fated husband's — father's care, 

His spouse — his offspring Rome forbids to share. 



5$ MEMOIRS OF 

Say, can the rude Sarmatian, school'd to steel 
His savage breast, — say can he learn to feel, 
Of haggard, aspect, who insatiate drains 
Life's reeking current from his courser's veins ; 
'Neath those frore locks that shade his tangled brow, 
Say, can that hollow eye with mercy glow ? 
— Blush, Roman, blush; — lo ! Goths his fate deplore, 
And pity meets him on that dreary shore ; 
His fate — those rocks that heard him, erst, complain. 
And brutes, no longer fierce, that mark'd his pain, 
In icy grottos Nereids learn to weep, 
And Danube mourns, beneath his chilly deep. 

See! Venus hastening from her favoured isle 
Bids her plum'd flutterers light his funeral pile. — 
Then, when the self-exhausted flames decline, 
His whitening ashes to their vase consign : 
And thus inscribe the stone — "lo here he lies — 
Who sung love's wiles, solicitudes, and joys." 
Herself ambrosial odours sprinkling round, 
Thrice, and four times, bedews the hallow'd ground. 
Ye too, Pierian Maids ! with plaintive strains 
Beyond my flight, embalm your bard's remains. 

We cannot, perhaps, more properly con- 
clude our account of these poems than in the 
words of an approved Italian critic. " Poli- 
r.Gravina t ' an > born to rouse tne liberal sciences from 
deiiaRagion their long slumbers, penetrating the most hid- 
p°i3o. a ' in 1# den sources of Greek and Latin eloquence, 
Napoii, 1716, possessed as a poet a singular felicity of talent, 
which enabled him to give the colouring of 
novelty to materials dexterously collected from 
the ancients, as above all the rest of his com- 
positions his " Sylvre" evince ; compositions, 
which arc adorned with the choicest flowers of 



POLITIAN. 

erudition, and shine with the most vivid flashes 
of poetry. Of these, the Sylva, entitled " Rus- 
ticus," forms an image not only of a finished 
poem, but of a happy and frugal life. The 
"Ambra" is no less deserving of admiration, 
in praise of which it may suffice to say, that it 
is a just mirror of Homer ; to understand whom, 
and to delineate whose characters, Politian 
was better qualified than any other of the mo- 
derns. Nor has he done less justice to Virgil in 
his poem entitled " Manto." To the exube- 
rance of his fancy, and that liberty of genius 
by which intermingling the style and manner 
of different writers, he alike adapts himself to 
the sublime, the tender or the humorous, are 
solely to be ascribed his occasional deviations 
from that purity of language which characte- 
rizes the golden age of Latin composition." 

In such honourable literary occupations, 
intrusted by Lorenzo de' Medici with the 
education of his children, and in his public 
character of professor regarded by the liberal 
youth of Florence and by numerous young 
foreigners, conspicuous for high birth or pro- 
mising talents, as the director of their acade- 
mical studies, Politian passed a great part of 
his life. His hours of relaxation were spent 
in the society of his patron, and of other illus- 
' trious contemporary scholars, natives of Flo- 
rence, or who had been attracted thither by 
the munificence of the Medici. Amongst the 
more intimate associates of Politian, was Joan- 
nes Picus of Mirandula, who was distinguished 
by literary qualifications and premature at- 
tainments of the most extraordinary kind ; 
and whose literary history will occupy a dis- 



_ 



58 MEMOIRS OF 

tinct place in the present volume. Between 
Politian and Picus subsisted the strictest at- 
tachment, and the most friendly communica- 
tion of studies. The platonic philosopher, 
Marsilius Ficinus, {d) in earlier years the pre- 



(d) Joannes Georgius Schelhornius, in his " Amaeni- 
tates Literariae," (Tom.i. p. 18 et seqq.J whom Nieeron 
has followed, has given a diffuse Life of Ficinus which 
Brucker has abridged in his " Hist. Critic. Philosophise," 
{Tom. iv. par, i. p. 4S, et segq.J Brucker's abridgement 
appears to be a correct one, and is in substance as follows: 

Marsilius Ficinus was born at Florence, A. D. 
mccccxxxiii. 13 Cal. Nov. His father discharged the 
office of physician to Cosmo de' Medici. Ficinus congratu- 
lates himself upon having had the good fortune to be born at 
that particular juncture, "quo, tanquam seculo aureo, libera- 
tes disciplino 3 , ferme jam extincta:, I'lorentix fuerint in lucem 
redtictce." Ep. lib. ix. p. 162. — xi. p. 1S6. At this period 
the family of Medici, by their powerful patronage and mu- 
nificent encouragement, had revived the love of letters. 
Already had Cosmo formed a copious library, and conceived 
the resolution of restoring the Platonic philosophy . Aware 
of the necessity of having the works of Plato and the Plato- 
nists translated into the Latin language, in order to the ac- 
complishment of such a design, he determined upon educat- 
ing some young person of promising talents and genius for 
this express purpose. Ficinus was the youth on whom his 
choice fell. Beneath the favour and patronage of so distin- 
guished a Mcecenas, who spared no expence in his instruc- 
tion, and provided him with the ablest tutors, he was care- 
fully exercised in the perusal of ancient authors, especially 
in those of the platonic school. He became, in consequence, 
less versed in those branches of learning which appertain to 
elegant literature in general, (in which indeed Ficinus was 
by no means conspicuous.) than in the depths of ancient 
philosophical erudition, in which his knowledge was very 
extensive. The writings of Plato himself, of Plotinus, Pro- 
clus, and the rest of the Platonics, with which the liberality 
of Cosmo supplied him, became familiar to him. To these 
he added the study of theology, and, at his father'* earnest 
instance, of medicine likewise. - Following the example of 
Pythagoras and Plato, he also became a proficient in music. 

Such was the indefatigable industry with which Ficinus 
pursued his studies, that very early ami extraordinary fruits 



POLITIAtf. 59 

ceptor, in later the friend and companion of 
Politian, might in a peculiar sense be consi- 



of his ingenuity were soon manifested to tlie public; and he 
became qualified to undertake the version and illustration of 
the most difficult platonic authors. Yet a youth, as he re- 
lates of himself, he translated for his own private use the 
Argonautica, and the Hymni of Orpheus, Homer, and Pro- 
clus, and the Theo/ogia of Hesiod; and when almost a mere 
boy commented upon Lucretius : but disapproving at a ma- 
turer age of these early fruits of his genius, he committed 
them to the flames. The method of his platonic studies is 
detailed by himself, Ep. ad Phil. Valorem, Lib. xi. p. 177. 

By such merits commending himself still more to his pa- 
trons, the Medici, they loaded him with favours and honour- 
ed him with their special friendship. He himself writes, 
(Epist. Lib. i. p. 9.) that he studied philosophy more than 
twelve years, in conjunction with Cosmo, who evinced no 
less acuteness in disputation than prudence and fortitude in 
governing: that to Plato he owns himself much indebted, 
but to Cosmo not less : that great man, after the example of 
the wise Solon, having through the whole of his life inter- 
mixed the study of philosophy with his important state occu- 
pations, even in those last days when he was about to mi- 
grate (to use the words of Ficinus) ** ex hac umbra ad lu- 
cem," evinced an increased ardour for such investigations, 
and actually expired immediately after the perusal ol Plato's 
treatise " De Uno Rerum Principio et Summo Bono." 

Thus eminently active and distinguished amongst the 
illustrious members of the platonic academy, stimulated by 
the example of his patrons, by exhortations and benefits, he 
advanced with hasty steps towards perfection in this species 
of erudition. Intent wholly on his studies his secular con- 
cerns were overlooked or disregarded by him. Having none 
of the cares of a parent to impede him, no relatives nearer 
than nephews and nieces, he found himself tolerably at ease 
on the revenues of his ecclesiastical preferment. What these 
were deficient was made up to him by the munificence of 
the Medici. But philosopher-like, how sparingly he acted in 
the enjoyment even of these gratuitous favours may be learned 
from one of his letters " ad Phil. Valorem." His domestics, 
he observes, who are in his estimation too many, and give 
him no little trouble, (since being no philosophers they are 
unwilling to acquiesce in a philosopher's fare,) frequently 
object to him, that other clients of the Medici had received 

I 2 






60 MEMOIRS OF 

dered as compleating this literary triumvirate. 
Politian ingenuously acknowledges the ad van- 



much from their patrons in the space of a few years ; that 
he, on the contrary, a most intimate favourite of this digni- 
fied house, and of all their clients, if he may so speak, " cli- 
entissimus"in the space of many years had received but little. 
But, he proceeds to say, what had been conferred upon him 
had been given spontaneously ; others had been obliged in 
consequence of asking; and that en these terms he doubted 
not he could have obtained what he pleased. Under such 
circumstances, notwithstanding the ability and good will of 
his patrons, it is less to be wondered at that Ficinus was by 
no means rich. Add to this that he is supposed to have 
gained little by his practice as a physician, and his ecclesias- 
tical revenues were not large ; to which Brucker adds on 
the authority of Schelhorn : " Valde pressisse ejus fortunam 
adversarios. Quas tamen serum nas dispulit Joan. Medicis 
Cardinalis beneficentia, cujus cura canonicatu auctus est." 

Ficinus delivered public lectures on the platonic philoso- 
phy, and many illustrious Italians are numbered amongst his 
auditors ; amongst whom were Angelus Politianus, Bened. 
Accoltus Aretinus, Joannes Cavalcantes, and various others. 
His reputation stood so high in the esteem of the Germans also, 
that many of their noblest youth repaired to Florence to par- 
take of his instructions: and strong testimonies remain of his 
paternal kindness, and regard for his scholars. A like cele- 
brity for erudition recommended him to the peculiar notice 
and friendship of various princes and persons of distinguished 
rank, such as Pope Innocent VIII. Matthias Corvinus, king 
of Hungary, Jacobus Papiensis, and Raphael Riarius, car- 
dinals, and others : " de quibus videndus Sc/ie'honuus." turn. 
i. p. 56, et aeqq. It was in such reputation that Ficinus 
spent a life of philosophic tenour equally remote from ambi- 
tion and avarice, filling up his time in learned discussions 
with his friends, the discharge of his public duties as a pro- 
fessor, or the delights of solitary and retired meditation. 
To the propitious and sacred solitudes afforded him in the 
retreats of Careggi, and Lorenzo's other country seats, the 
public became indebted for the learned fruits of Ins various 
and profound speculations. Fven in the midst of shades, 
and groves, and rural scenery, he was wont, in societ\ with 
Belect parties of his friends, to descant on the deep myste- 
ries of Ins beloved platonism. Thus he writes to Piero de' 
Medici, " se, in agro Careggio cum Laurmtio Med ice 
deambulantem, multa cum eo mysteria Platonis ultrd citro- 



POLITIAN. 6\ 

tagcs he had received from the conversation 
of these eminent men. Whilst the diffusion 



que fuisse interpietatum." It has been deemed a matter of 
surprize thai a person so minute of stature "utqui vixjustse 
magnitudinis viri lumbos attingeret," of a frame so delicate, 
and continually struggling with ill health, should have been 
equal to the task of those voluminous and profound discus- 
sions to which the platonic philosophy necessarily led him ; 
" et tantae molis saxum volvere potuisse." He was of a 
melanchoh temperament, which he laments as a misfortune, 
imputing it, agreeably to the manner of the times, " con- 
stellationi suae.'' Epist. Lib. iii. p. 70. De Vita Sand, c. 
10. His works afford abundant proofs how deeply he was 
influenced by the reveries of judicial astrology. His dispo- 
sition was gentle, meek, and moderate. Averse to all vio- 
lent disputes and literary altercations, he neither used on any 
occasion severe language, nor clamorously asserted his own 
opinions. Hence, though superstitiously devoted to Plato, 
he bore with great temper the objections of those who dis- 
approved of his tenets. Vide ep. ad H. Barbarum. Lib. viii. 
p. 145. His feeble constitution was supported by extreme 
temperance and sobriety; and his arduous labours and diffi- 
culties surmounted by patience. The pious turn of his 
writings, and that strong character of religion which per- 
vades his works, is, by some, imputed to the impressions he 
received from the preaching of Savonarola. Vide Wharton 
ad Cave. p. 112. Dupui. Bibliutk. Eccles. torn. xiv. p. 3. 

The infirmities of his mind appear to have borne some 
analogy to those of his temperament of body. He wanted 
vigour and accuracy of judgement, with which if he had 
been furnished, he would have avoided the superstitious 
attachment manifested by him to the "Vlatonumus Alexandri- 
?ius," than which, Brucker observes, no philosophical reve- 
ries could possibly be more ridiculous ; and would have 
evinced more sagacity in detecting the " somnia et inania 
piXoa-opa/iAMfle" of this sect. But destitute of such helps, it 
can scarcely be told how egregiously he trifles, extolling 
f* hujus furfuris philosophastros" not only above all others, but 
pronouncing them somewhat more than human. Of this folly 
proofs may be found in his " Praefationes" to Plato, Plotinus, 
Iamblicus, &c. He was devoid also of the more splendid 
and exterior graces of a well cultivated understanding : his 
style is pronounced inelegant, and his language confused ; 
and Claud. Verdierius is allowed to have been justified in 



6% MEMOIRS OF 

of useful science was their great and common 
object, they agreed upon such a friendly dis- 



asserting, * deesse stylo ejus affectuum vim, leporem, ve- 
nustatem, elegantiam, argutiam, acrimoniam, dignitatem." 
The bent of his disposition inclined him to embrace with 
more than ordinary attachment, this * Enthusiasmus Alex- 
andrinus," and to receive with implicit faith the wild visions 
of the more recent platonists; " Quam ineptientis ingenii 
labem et credulitatem philosopho indignam 'says Brucker) 
detestabili snperstitione demonstravit, qua apparitionibus, 
insomniis, ominibus, mirum quantum tribuit, et maximas 
rerum civilium mutationes, nescio quibus imaginations ter- 
riculamentis significari, vel siderum positionibus et appariti- 
onibus praedictas fuisse, indigna philosopho ratione conten- 
ds." See his account of the prodigies attendant on the 
death of Lor. de' Medici. *' Pr&f. ad Platinum;" and his 
treatise " De Vita Coelitus Conservanda, in quo, magno 
studio hujusmodo ineptias tradidit." For this superstitious 
propensity, it is asserted, he was on all sides so violently- 
attacked, that the good offices of his friends, particularly of 
Hermolaus Barbarus, became necessary in order to his de- 
fence. On the same account he did not escape the imputa- 
tion of dealing in magic, from which Schelhornius ably 
defends him, not without conceding however " eum anilis 
superstitionis reum agi." Brucker also charges Ficinus with 
a habit of servile and cringing adulation towards the great 
and powerful, unworthy of a philosopher, referring to Schel- 
hornius for instances of such meanness; and in this respect 
imputes to him M impieralem quandam sibi hominum et 
favorem et benevolentiam conciliandi, quae non erubuit sa- 
crorum oraculorum cifata ad profanam allegoriam transferre." 
Schelhornius further enumerates various instances how 
far his blind and unreasonable attachment to platonism 
operated to corrupt and depravate his christian princi- 
ples. Amongst other follies, he ridiculously imagines " So- 
crateni Christum praesignificavisse ;" and in his " Dedicatio 
versionis Dialogorum Platonis," he almost blasphemously 
says, " Nolite, precor, antiquam salutaremque doctrinam, 
heu jam diu nimis opprcssam, nuper autem in lucem divina 
providentia prodeuntem, insequi crudehtcr, et opprimere ; 
ne folic, quam Ueus omnipotens vult ubiquc vivam, morlalis 
homo fruslra perditam velit. Dextcra enim Domini fecit 
virlutem ; dextcra Dei jam cxaltavit cam : non morietur sed 
vivet, et enarrabit opera Domini :" But consulmdi sunt df 



POLITIAN. 63 

tribution of studies as coincided with their 
several talents and partialities. To Picus were 
assigned theological subjects ; to Ficinus his 
beloved Plato ; while Politian undertook pub- 
licly to explain the writings of Aristotle. £?*• E P ist *. u 
The kindnes of Lorenzo, to which he had, ub\riiep.4. 
in a great measure at least, been indebted for 
his education, and which had placed him in 
easy and affluent circumstances, probably con- 
ferred on him the secular priory of the college 
of S. Giovanni, which he held ; and on his 
entrance into clerical orders, appointed him a 



his et similibus, Wharton, Julius Niger, Schelhorn, Niceron, 
et alii. The chief part of his works are contained in the 
Paris edition, 1641, in two volumes, folio, amongst which, 
those of most merit are the " Versiones Platonis et Plotini," 
especially as he has undertaken to illustrate the obscure parts 
of Plato's, and more particularly of •Plotinus's philosophy, 
with comments and introductory discourses. But in each 
translation he is accused of frequent want of fidelity. " Pla- 
tonem ita saepe vertit, non ut ejus mens poscit, sed ut ipsi 
visum. " (Brucker.) 

Another source of error was that ill-founded opinion he 
preconceived, that the writings of Plato and Plotinus " veram 
divinamque philosophiam comprehendebant," and were re- 
concileable with the sacred writings. Hence he often mis- 
construes both Christianity and platonism, and makes them 
speak his sense rather than their own. Not fully understand- 
ing, moreover, many of the Placita of the more recent pla- 
tonists, rather than own his ignorance, he has put upon 
them a forced construction, and distorted them ci allegoria- 
rum machinis in alienos sensus." (Idem. J A like censure 
is cast upon others of his works. He died " in Careggianis 
agris" of a fever, A. D. 1499, aged 66, Brucker ludicrously 
mistakes the following lines of Politian for an epitaph on 
Ficinus : 

Mores, ingenium, musas, sophiamque supremam 
Vis uno dicam nomine ? Marsilius. 

Ficinus survived Politian ; and the above was a compliment 
to the living philosopher, not to the deceased one. 



,6-i MEMOIRS OF 

canon of the cathedral of Florence, (e) He 
generally resided under the same roof with his 
patron : and was intrusted with the care of 
his manuscripts which he assisted in collect- 
ing ; and the arrangement of his extensive 
library. Lorenzo took a peculiar pleasure in 
his society, and honoured him with his unre- 
served friendship. 

The writings of Politian furnish us with 
the most pleasing and satisfactory evidence, 
respecting the confidence to which he was 
admitted by his illustrious benefactor. From 
them, also, much accurate information may 
be obtained, with regard to the temper and 
character of the one, and the other, in scenes, 
and on occasions, when the human disposition 
displays itself in its native colours, unincum- 
bered by forms, and unrestrained by disguise. 
The following sportive effusions of Politian 's 
pen, if not otherwise of importance, deserve 
•to be ranked among testimonies of this na- 
ture. 



(e) Ad Laurentium pro sacerdotio acceptoin templo Divi 
Paul i, cum adhuc subjudice lis est. 



Gratatur, Laurens, venienti mi per in urbem 

Quantum hominum tola vivit in urbe, mihi. 
Atque omnes taceam studium quos copulat, aut tu, 

Quosque vetus nobis vinxit amicitia; 
Caupo, auceps, lanius, pistor, cocus, institor, urgent 

Hinc me unguit tactu fartor, at inde cocus. 
Hie me veste trahit: hinc basior, inde salutor : 

Occurro his vultu, lumine, voce, manu. 
" Gratamur, Paulum quod babes,'" vox omnibus haec est, 

" Non habeo Paulum," dico.— " Quid ergo } n "Nihil. 3 

Inter Polit. Pocmata. 



POLITIAN. 

AD LAURENTIUM MEDICEM. 

Cum referam attonito Medic es ! tibi carraina plectro, 

Ingeniumque tibi serviat omne meum, 
Quod tegor attrila ridet plebecula veste, 

Tegmina quod pedibus sint recutita meis: 
Quod digitos caligae disrupto carcere nudos 

Permittunt coelo liberiore frui : 
Intima bombycum vacua est quod stamine vestis, 

Sectaque de caesa vincula fall it ove. 
Ridet, et ignavum sic me putat esse poetam, 

Nee placuisse animo carmina nostra tuo. 
Tu contra, effusas toto sic pectore laudes 

Ingeris, ut libris sit data palma meis. 
Hoc tibi si credi cupis, et cohibere popellum, 

Laurenti ! vestes jammihi mitte tuas. 



65 



While to your praise I consecrate my lyre, 

With all the zeal devotion can inspire, 

The crowd deride my vest grown old and bare, 

My slippers soFd with oeconomic care, 

My time-worn hose., where recent chinks betray 

Their slender texture, and admit the day : 

My tunic too, — decay'd by length of years 

lis silken warp, nought but the woof appears. 

" Sloven 1" they cry — " nor think Lorenzo deigns 

Thee to admire, or listen to thy strains/' 

— Nathless your suffrage still exalts my lays, 

And crowns my temples with the tuneful bays. 

To check these sceptics, — still to doubting prone, 

Replace my suit, Lorenzo ! with your own. 

AD EUNDEM GRATIARUM ACTIO. 

Dum cupio ingentes numeris tibi solvere grates i 
Laurenti ! aetatis gloria prima tuae, 
K 



66 MEMOIRS OF 



Excita jamdudum, longo mihi murmure tandem 

Astitit arguta Calliopeia lyra. 
Astitit, inque meo preciosas corpore vestes 

Ut vidit, pavidum rettulit inde pedem : 
Nee potuit culti faciem dea nosse poetae, 

Corporaque in Tyrio conspicienda sinu. 
Si minus ergo tibi meritas ago carmine grates, 

Frustrata est calamum diva vocata meum. 
Mox tibi sublato modulabor pectine versus, 

Cultibus assuerit cum mea Musa novis. 



Anxious to pay the thanks your bounties claim, 
Lorenzo ! glory of the Tuscan name, 
See at my call, Calliope appear ! 
Her lyre's shrill warblings strike my listening ear. 
She stood confest ; — but gaz'd with wild surprize, 
Nor knew her poet in his gay disguise. 
The purple glare, — the rustling of brocade, 
Startled each sense ; and quick she fled, dismayM. 
Since, oft invok'd, she illudes my feeble lay, 
Nor aids, the debt of gratitude to pay : 
Excuse the strain, and reconcil'd e'er long, 
The tuneful maid shall prompt a nobler song. 

He seems to have increased in favour with 
his patron, in proportion to the numerous 
testimonies of esteem and admiration which 
he received from his learned contemporaries. 
In one of his letters to Donatus, he thus ex- 
presses himself: " Lorenzo perused your let- 
ter ; and although he always esteemed me 
beyond my desert, yet since the perusal of it, 
I cannot help observing* that he seems to think 
more favourably of me, and caresses me more 
than before. — When your avocations will per- 



POLITIAN. 67 

mit, write I entreat you, now and then to 
your friend ; under the conviction trjat you 
are conferring on me, not merely the obliga- 
tion of a letter, but stipends, titles of honour, 
ecclesiastical preferments, and, in a word, all 
the conveniences of life. For these things I 
am indebted to the unceasing kindness of Lo- 
renzo : who seems inclined to augment his 
favours, in proportion to the progress I make 
in the esteem of such as you : the true and 
respectable judges of learning and merit." l^. h. ep. 

The subsequent letters are further illustra- 13, 
tive of the confidential nature of that amity 
which subsisted between Lorenzo and Politian ; 
while they serve to place the writers in no 
uninteresting point of view. 

Laurentius Medices, to Ang. Politianus. Lib.x. ep.5. 

By your letter of which Michelotius (jf) 
is the bearer, you inform me of the indifferent 
state of the health of my little boys. — The 
news gave me that concern which might be 
expected in an affectionate parent. Indeed 
you foresaw this, and have endeavoured to 
fortify my mind with so many arguments, 
that, I fear, you entertain no very favourable 
opinion of my fortitude. Though I know 
this solicitude is to be considered as a proof 
of the excess of your affection for me, yet I 



[f) Nicolaus Michelotius (Nicolao MickelozziJ was the 
private secretary of Lorenzo, " Laurentii Medicis a secretis 
elegantis homo ingenii." Polit. Miscel. cap. lxxvii. Men- 
tion also occurs of another learned person of the name of 
Bernardo Michelozzi. " Doctus in utraque lingua vir Bernar* 
dus Michelotius." Ibid. cap. xxiii. 

K 2 



1 






68 MEMOIRS OF 

confess, it gave me more concern, than any 
tidings of my children's indisposition could 
have done. For though they form a part as it 
were of the substance of a parent, yet a dis- 
tempered mind is a misfortune that more near- 
ly affects him than the illness of children. 
They who possess health and vigour of mind, 
are above the reach of exterior calamities : but 
if the mind be weak and disordered, there can 
be no port so sheltered from the stormy bil- 
lows of fortune, no sea so tranquil, no warfare 
so easy, but it will be liable to be agitated 
and perturbed. And do you then really think 
me of a temper so imbecile, as to be discom- 
posed by such an event ? — But admitting my- 
self to be naturally so constituted, as to be 
the sport of my own passions, — yet I have 
surely learned constancy by long experience. 
I have already known what it is to bear not 
only the sickness, but the decease of my chil- 
dren. My own father, taken away by a pre- 
mature dissolution, left me in my one and 
twentieth year, so exposed to the assaults of 
fortune, that life became irksome to me. You 
ought therefore to conclude that experience 
has given me that fortitude, which nature 
denied. In your letter to Michelotius, you ma- 
nifest no small distrust of my firmness of mind : 
— in that which you address to me, you highly 
extol my virtues and mental endowments. Is 
there no contradiction in this? Either the 
one is untrue, — or you want, yourself, that 
magnanimity, the want of which you seem to 
discover in me. You withhold from me the 
intelligence which you communicate to Miche- 
lotius; — as if the information became, in so 
doing, less your own : and you supposed the 



POLITIAN. 69 

mode of communication would give me more 
pain than the tidings communicated. But I 
would not, by enlarging on trifles, fall into 
the error I impute to you : nor seem, in the 
same letter, to despise such things, and mul- 
tiply words about them. If any thing I have 
now written appear captious or severe, you 
will overlook it, for the sake of my known 
affection for you, — and because it is usual for 
us to be more fluent in abuse than commenda- 
tion. I truly rejoice to hear that our Julianus 
applies diligently to his studies : my congra- 
tulations to him ; and thanks to you, for ex- 
citing in him this disposition. — As you have 
already kindled in his breast a love of letters, 
still, I entreat you, do all in your power to 
stimulate his diligence, and engage him to 
persevere. — I shall speedily rejoin you, and 
make one of the party with you, in the de- 
lightful walks of science. Adieu." From Pisa. 
Apr. 1477. 

Angelus Politianus to Laurentius Medices. Lib. x. e P . a. , 

" It was not from any doubt of your con- 
stancy or discretion, that I addressed the let- 
ter concerning your children's indisposition to 
Michelotius, rather than to you : — but because 
I was apprehensive it might appear indiscreet 
in me, to communicate disagreeable intelli- 
gence at an improper moment. For the post, 
often delivers letters abruptly ; and the secre- 
tary seizes on any accidental interval to pre- 
sent them. It was expedient I should thus 
testify my respectful consideration for Lauren- 
tius Medices : Hor. Satyr." 

Lib. ii. Sat. i. 

f Cui male si palpere, recalcitrat undique tutus." v. 20. 



1 



70 MEMOIRS OF 



Lib. x* ep» 7. 



Nor is there any thing inconsistent in my 
reverencing you on the one hand, and extol- 
ling you on the other: for I venerate you on 
that very account, because I deem you worthy 
of the highest praise. These gentle reproofs 
of yours, are so far from giving me pain, that 
they serve only to render your kind attentions 
more pleasing. Julian us, — your brother in- 
deed, — nay in the estimation of men of letters, 
your other self, is to admiration, his own en- 
courager in literary pursuits, and his own 
instructor. Nothing is wanting but your 
presence, to compleat our happiness." 

Angelus Politianus to Laurent ins Medices. 

" Baptista Leo, (g) a Florentine, of the 
noble family of the Alberti, — a person who 



(g) Leo Battista Alberti, distinguished no less as a 
scholar, than as an artist, was born 1404. While he studied 
at Bologna, he composed at the age of twenty, a Latin 
comedy, which he entitled " Philodoxios ;" and having pub- 
lished it as a newly discovered work of Lepidus, an ancient 
comic poet, succeeded in imposing it as such on the learned 
of those times. What is yet more extraordinary, even in 
the following century, a descendant of Aldus Manutius, 
having met with it in MS. — and alike ignorant of its former 
publication, and the purpose it was intended to serve, printed 
it again at Lucca, A. D. 1588, still taking it for a precious 
remnant of antiquity : as appears from the epistle dedicatory 
addressed by him to Ascanius Persius: — '• Lepidam Lepidi, 
antiqui comici, quisquis ille sit, fabulam ad te mitto, erudi- 
tissime Persi : — quae cum ad manus meas pervenerit, perire 
nolui ; et antiquitatis rationem habendam esse duxi, &c." 

" Lorenzo de' Medici, the true Maecenas of his age," (says 
du Frcsne) M with a view to pass the sultry season more agree- 
ably, having assembled some of the most eminent literary 
persons in the grove of Camaldoli, amongst whom were 
Marsilio Ficino, Uonalo Acciajuoli, Alamanno Rinuccini, 



i II 






POLITIAN. 71 

combined exquisite taste, with a highly culti- 
vated understanding, and profound erudition, 
besides various other valuable compositions 
with which he has obliged posterity, wrote 
ten books on architecture, which he had cor- 
rected for publication and intended to inscribe 
to you ; but was prevented by death. His 
brother Bernardo, a discreet person, and much 
devoted to you, desirous at the same time of 
paying the respect due to the memory and 
will of the deceased, and to your merits, has 
caused the work to be transcribed and bound, 
and presents it to you ; wishing me to say 
something in favour of the gift, and of the 
author. This, however, I was desirous to de- 



Christoforo Landino, and Leon Battista Alberti ; and the 
conversations turning on such topics as might be expected — 
the latter in several learned discourses satisfactorily proved, 
that under many of the fictions of the ./Eneid the sublimest 
mysteries of philosophy were concealed : and that Virgil 
was in reality a philosopher, in the disguise of a poet. The 
substance of his discourses on this occasion, was recorded by 
Landino, and published in his work, entitled " Disputationes 
Camaldulenses." Aiberti, we are told, was the first to free 
architecture from the barbarisms of the Gothic ages, and to 
restore it to its ancient purity : hence he was denominated the 
•* Florentine Vitruvius." He was the author of various works of 
satire and pleasantry : — among which his " Momus," writ- 
ten in Latin, and twice printed at Rome in the same year, 
1520, is particularly distinguished. He also composed a 
small volume of fables, which for originality of invention 
are said to vie with those of iEsop. He was likewise the 
first to adapt his native language to the measures of Latin 
poetry, of which the following specimen is preserved : 

" Questa pur estrema miserabile pistola mando 
A te che spregi miseramente noi, &c." 

See his life by Rafaelk du Fresne prefixed to Leoni's edition 
of his architecture, fyc. in fol. Lond. 1726. — Also Vasari, and 
Roscoe's « Life of Lor. dc' Med." 



72 MEMOIRS OF 

cline, that I might not detract from the 
praises due to so finished a work, and so dis- 
tinguished a person, through want of ability. 
The work, on being perused, will recommend 
itself. To do justice to the author, neither 
the confined limits of a letter, nor poverty of 
expression on my part will permit. He was 
one who left unexplored no branch of science : 
and it remains undecided whether he has more 
excelled in his prose or in his poetical composi- 
tions : and whether his language possesses more 
dignity or elegance. So well had he studied 
the remains of antiquity, that he has investi- 
gated and exemplified every ancient system of 
architecture. He is also not only the disco- 
verer of a great variety of curious mechanical 
inventions, but has furnished admirable de- 
signs for edifices ; and was himself esteemed 
an excellent painter and statuary. Yet so 
accurate was his knowledge in all, as few at- 
tain to in single branches of these arts. But 
of such a person, as Sallust said of Carthage, 
" I deem it better to say nothing than not as 
much as I ought.' 1 — I wish you, Lorenzo, to 
give the volume a conspicuous place in your 
library; to peruse it with attention ; and cause 
it to be published. It is well deserving of 
general perusal. The patronage of literature, 
neglected bv others, depends solely upon 

you." 

The munificence of Lorenzo to learned 
men, and his own attachment to letters have 
been justly celebrated ; and Politian does not 
omit, on proper occasions, to pay him the 
tribute of praise he so well deserved. He 
speaks of him as almost the only person of 
influence who, " amidst the extreme darkness 



POLITIAN. 73 

of the age, had dared to hope for light." He Lib.m. e P . 6. 
highly extols his acuteness in disputation, his 
accuracy of discrimination, his wit and elo- 
quence, knowledge of history, and general 
acquaintance with the sciences; in none of 
which he was inferior to the most accomplished 
men of those times. " He is/' says he, " the 
Maecenas of his age : — and like the Roman 
Maecenas, assists men of genius and erudition, 
with his advice, his wealth, and personal ex- 
ertions. Himself a man of letters — he relieves, 
cherishes, maintains, and loads with benefits, 
the learned of every description." With simi- Lib.xi.ep.25. 
lar eulogies of the public and private virtues 
of Lorenzo, the prose writings of Politian 
every where abound : and whilst in the inter- 
course of private correspondence his pen is 
generally animated by this topic to no com- 
mon pitch of enthusiasm, his poetical effu- 
sions, addressed to, or poured forth in honour 
of such a patron, possess a proportionate de- 
gree of elevation. 

This hyperbolical language might justly 
subject him to the imputation of flattery, did 
not the exalted merit of the one in so great a 
measure apologise for the extravagance of the 
other. Thus on some incidental occasion we 
find him indulging the ardour of his muse. 



AD LAURENTIUM MEDICEM. 

Nescio quos media coeli de sede petitos 
Luminibus radios suspicor esse tuis : 

Nam quoties oculos in me convertis amicos, 
Complector cunctas pectore laetitias. 

Tunc faciles subeunt Musae, tunc ipse videtur 
Purus Apollinei sideris esse nitor. 
L 



74 MEMOIRS OF 



At quoties oculos a me deflectis amicos 

Complector nullas pectore laetitias. 
Non faciles subeunt Musae, non ipse videtur 

Purus Apollinei sideris esse nitor. 
Cur ergo avertis, Laurenti, Iumina ? redde, 

Redde meis, quaeso, Iumina Iuminibus. 
Laetitias mihi redde meas ; redde, invide, musas, 

Quas tua mi rapiunt Iumina, — sed propera. 



TO LORENZO DE MEDICI. 

Around those honour'd brows, what glory plays, 
And lights your aspect with celestial rays, 
That thus your looks benign a heavenly charm 
Emit, — and all my exulting bosom warm ! 
'Tis then, the Muse propitious tunes my lyre, 
And glowing raptures every sense inspire. 
But ah ! when you the enlivening beam withhold, 
Mute is my song, my joyless bosom cold : 
Nor more the Muses deign my flights to aid, 
But Helicon's bright star is lost in shade. 
Then haste, Lorenzo ! deign the look divine, 
Light of my eyes, with yours rekindling mine. 
Restore my joys, restore the inspiring Muse, 
And on my night the morning beam effuse. 

Concerning the state of learning-, in the 
early part and middle of the fifteenth century, 
Politian writing to Leonicenus, thus expresses 
himself: " I have lately perused your excel- 
lent translation of the commentaries of Galen 
into the Latin language. It will doubtless 
prove of real service to posterity; hut of our 
own age, I dare not yet cherish a hope. Such 
is the force of those prejudices which at pre- 



POLITTAN. 75 

sent render men blind to their true interests, 
that they would pertinaciously plead for the 
use of the acorn, even after the discovery of 
corn : " Glandem defendant repertis frugibus.*' 
— Not unlike that Gryllus, with whom Ulysses 
reasons, in Plutarch, who cannot be prevailed 
on by any arguments, to consent to relinquish 
the brutal form into which he had been me- 
tamorphosed by Circe, and reassume the hu- 
man shape." Lib. ii. e P . 4. 

It was however, at this period, that the 
arts and sciences began gradually to revive 
and flourish : — philosophy, "to be freed," to 
use the expression of Antiquarius, " from 
the dust ot barbarism," and criticism to as- Lib. Hi. e P . 
sume a manly and rational appearance. The 2L 
more immediate causes which brought about Roscoe's Life 
these desirable events, were, the arrival of the °^ T J^ Z0 de ' 
illustrious Grecian exiles in Italy ; (A) the 
discovery of ancient manuscripts; the estab- 



(k) The fate of Greece, once the seat of science and 
the muses, is thus deplored by a German poet of the 16th. 
century. 

Proh scelus ! e Scythicis egressa paludibus, ausu 
EfFera gens, — campis impune vagatur in illis, 
Hospitium musarum, ubi Athenae dulce vigebant : 
Ducere laeta choros nympharum ubi turba solebat, 
Arva quatit sonipes, falcato et acinace fulgens 
Dira cohors, armis coit, agmina conscia jungens. 



O crime! what desolating hordes defile 
Thy learned shades, and tread that classic soil ! 
Where Athens stood, the muse's lov'd abode, 
And the light nymphs in choral dances trode, 
While to barbaric hoofs thy plains resound, 
Its pale gleam throws the scymetar around. 

Joan. Albini Saxonis de mutationibus regnor. poema ; v i d. 
JPelitias Poetar. Germanor. Franco/. 1612. 









76 MEMOIRS OF 

lishment of public libraries, and seminaries of 
education ; and especially the invention of 



Constantinople was taken by the Turks, A. D. 1453. — 
Among the learned Greeks who found an asylum at Florence 
in the protection of Cosmo de' Medici, were Demetrius 
Chalcondyles, Joannes Andronicus, Constantius and Joan- 
nes Lascaris, &c. The Laurentian library at Florence, which 
singly, comprized treasures of learning, found its commence- 
ment in the zeal of Cosmo de* Medici. It was enriched 
with many valuable additions by Piero, the father of Lo- 
renzo; and compleated by the latter: of whose ardour in 
forming this collection, Leonicenus writing to Politian, 
(Epist. lib.ii. ep. 7.) says, "Missis per universum terra- 
rum orbem nuntiis in omni disciplinarum genere libros summi 
ope conquirit : nulli sumptui parcit, &c. — audivi, te refe- 
rente, vocem illam praeclaram ex Laurentii ore prodiisse, 
optare tanta sibi abs te ac Pico nostro ad libros emendos 
praestari incitamenta, ut tandem deficientibus sumptibus 
totam suppellectilem oppignerare cogatur." An eager spi- 
rit of enterprize for the recovery of ancient MSS. had cha- 
racterized the earlier part of the fifteenth century. Poggius 
had the good fortune to discover a perfect copy of Quintilian 
in the monastery of S. Gall: — an event of which he gives 
the following account, in a letter to a friend written from 
Constance, and dated December 16, 1516. (Vide Menage, 
Anti-Baillet.) " Est autem monasterium S. Galli prope 
urbem, hinc millia passuum viginti. Itaque nonnulli, animi 
laxandi, et simul perquirendorum librorum, quorum magnus 
numerus esse dicebatur, gratia, eo perreximus. — Ibi, inter 
confertissimam librorum copiam, quos longum esset recen- 
sere, Quintilianum comperimus, adhuc salvum et incolumem, 
plenum tamen situ et pulvere squalentem. Erant enim non 
in bibliotheca libri illi; ut eorum dignitas postulabat; sed 
in teterrimo quodam et obscuro carcere : fundo scilicet unius 
turris, quo ne capitales quidem rei danmati retruderentur." 
— Landinus in a poem " De Laudibus Poggii" (Carmina 
lllust. Poet. torn. vi. p. 1 IS,) alludes to this, and other simi- 
lar discoveries of the same person : 

" Illius ergo manu, nobis doctissime Rhetor, 
Integer in Latium, Quintiliane, redis. 

Illius alque manu divina poemala Sili 
Italicis redcunt usque legenda viris. 



POLITIAN. 



77 



printing. Whilst at least so early as the year 
1471, Bernardo Cennini and his sons, and 
after them Antonio Miscomini practised that 
art at Florence with great elegance, as far as 
concerned the publication of Latin authors ; 
under the patronage of Piero de' Medici, De- 
metrius Crete nsis, a Grecian exile, was en- 
gaged to superintend the Greek press. To 
his learned labours and the assistance of De- 
metrius Chalcondyles, posterity is indebted 
for the first edition of Homer, which magni- 
ficent work appeared, A. D. 1488. The same 
illustrious refugee had some years before given 
to the Italians the first specimen of an entire 
volume printed in Greek characters, by pub- 
lishing in conjunction with Dionysius Para- 
visinus the "Grammatica Grasca" of Lascaris, 
at Milan, A. D. 1476; and Politian had 



Et ne nos lateat variorum cultus agrorum, 
Ipse Columella? grande reportat opus. 

Et te, Lucreti, longo post tempore, tandem 
Civibus et patriae reddit habere tu3s." 

Leonardus Aretinus in a letter to Poggius also alludes to 
MSS. of other Latin authors recovered by the latter. A 
number of orations of Cicero in particular, are said by his 
means to have been brought to light. 

Eminent scholars were at various times encouraged to 
make voyages into the east, with a view to the discovery and 
purchase of ancient Greek authors. We are told that Joan. 
Aurispa arrived at Venice, A. D. 1423, with 238 MSS. 
amongst which were the works of Plato, Proclus, Plotinus, 
Lucian, Xenophon, Acrian, Dio, Diodorus Siculus, Strabo, 
Callimachus, Pindar, Oppian, Orpheus, &c. Joannes Las- 
caris was engaged by Lorenzo on a similar expedition, and 
returned with 200 MSS. but not till after Lorenzo's death. 
The latter employed men of erudition to make frequent ex- 
cursions through Italy, &c. with the same view: and on 
such errands it is said Politian himself was at intervals en- 
gaged. See Mr, Roscoe's Life of Lor. de' Med. 



78 MEMOIRS OF 

pleasingly contributed to immortalize the 
names and ingenuity of these learned artists 
in the following verses : 



In Demetrium Cretensem et Dionysium Paravisi- 

num Graecorum voluminum impressores. 

Qui colis Aonidas, — Grsecos quoque volve libelios, 

Namque illas genuit Grsecia non Latium. 
En ! Paravisinus quanta hos Dionysius arte 

Imprimit, en ! quanto cernitis ingenio. 
Te quoque, Demetri, ponto circumsona Crete 

Tanti operis nobis edidit artificem. 
Turce quid insultas! Tu Graeca volumina perdis, 

Hi pariunt; hvdrae nunc age colla seca. 



Woo'st thou the Nine ? — these Grecian tomes peruse ; 
From Greece, not Latium sprung each tuneful Muse. 
Here — on each page imprest — conspicuous shine 
Thy pow'rs inventive, great Paravisine; 
Thine too, Demetrius, nurs'd on foreign shores 
Where round Jove's isle the sea incessant roars. 
Proud Turk ! creative they thy rage confound — 
Strike then — our fruitful Hydra courts the wound. 

Indeed no branch of science was cultivated 
with greater ardour than classical literature : 
under the peculiar patronage of Lorenzo, and 
of some of the chiefs of other states in Italy, 
who imitated his liberality, eminent scholars 
engaged with incredible ardour and diligence, 
in collating manuscripts, and ascertaining the 
genuine text of Greek and Latin authors; ex- 
plaining their obscurities, illustrating them 



POLITIAN. 79 

-with commentaries, translating them into va- 
rious languages, and imitating their beauties. 

The " Miscellanea" of Politian (i) first 
published at Florence, A. D. 1489, were every 
where received with the greatest applause. 
They were compared by the learned to the 
" Noctes Atticae" of Aulus Gellius. In con- Lib.iv.ep.12. 
sequence of the publication of them, he re- 
ceived letters from all parts, full of kindness 
and congratulation. " Nee plures Jasoni et 
Cadmo, satu dentium nati sunt hostes, " (says 
the author himself) " quam mihi, satu Mis- 
cellaneorum nati amici." Lib. iv. ep.5. 

" Nor think," says Guarinus, " that let- 
ters are the only instruments of your praise. 
Still more for your honour, are those senti- 
ments, which silently arise in the breasts of 
all lovers of polite literature, on perusing the 
work. In public too, every individual speaks 
of you in the handsomest terms ; applauds 
your erudition, and loads you with praises. 
Regardless of the expence, each purchases 
your " Miscellanea," which he considers as a 
treasure of knowledge, and carries home with 
exultation. These are genuine acknowledg- 
ments of your erudition, in which there can 
be no deceit."— 4 ' I find in the "Miscellanea," Lib - i - e P- 2S - 
says Leonicenus, " not only much informa- 



(i) Politian inscribes his " Miscellanea" to Lorenzo de* 
Medici ; at whose request they were published. " Cum tibi 
superioribus diebus, Laurenti Medices, nostra haec miscellanea 
inter equitandum recitaremus, delectatus arbitror novitate 
ipsa rerum ; et varietate non illepida lectionis, hortari coepisti 
nos ut imam saltern ex eis centunam (nam centenis libn sin- 
guli capitibus explicantur,) publicaremus." Ad Law, Med, 
Pmfatio. 



A 



80 MEMOIRS OF 

tion that conduces to the understanding of 
the ancient poets and orators, but also various 
passages of medical and philosophical writers 
ingeniously illustrated ; and placed in a clearer 
Ep. Lib. ii. point of view by you, than by any other writer. " 
cp - 3. It is thus that Jacobus Antiquarius, writes 

to Politian on the same subject. (i Going 
lately, according to my custom, to one of 
the public offices at Milan : I found several 
young men who are employed there, neglect- 
ing the business of the state, and deeply en- 
gaged in the perusal of a book, the leaves of 
which had been distributed among them. — I 
enquire what new work is come abroad. — They 
answer, " the Miscellanies of Politian." I 
ascend ; — take my place among them ; and 
read with equal eagerness: — delighted with 
the contemplation of those talents, which be- 
gin to distinguish the present times ; which 
appear unequal to no undertaking ; and evi- 
dently form themselves on the model of classi- 
cal antiquity. Unable to spend much time 
here, I send to purchase a copy from the 
bookseller :-=— which my servant has no sooner 
brought, than 1 begin to turn over the leaves 
at home with more attention. Among the 
first words, — in the very dedication, I read 
with transport the name of Laurentius Me- 
dices. The preface greatly enhances my ex- 
pectation of that literary banquet, of which it 
is a foretaste. I run over the chapters : every 
where profound erudition : every where that 
variety, which keeps curiosity awake. And, 
what evinces great ability, and indefatigable 
labour ; every observation is confirmed by the 
^ testimony of so many, and such respectable 

authorities, that he who is most desirous of 



POLITIAN. 81 

finding fault with the work, may bark indeed 
but cannot bite. On you, immortality awaits: 
you have taken her by the forelock." Lib.m.ep.is. 

To enlarge upon the merits of those critical 
remarks on ancient authors, emendations of 
corrupted, and elucidations of difficult and 
obscure passages, contained in the " Mis- 
cellanea' 5 of Politian ; or to attempt to 
shew how far succeeding philologists have dis- 
sented from, or sanctioned them with their 
approbation, falls not within the limits of our 
present design. But the " Miscellanea" con- 
tain also passages of a more generally interest- 
ing nature, which furnish some anecdotes of 
Politian and of contemporary scholars not 
elsewhere to be found, and throw a pleasing 
light upon the literary disputes and studies of 
the times. 

u Argyropylus of Byzantium, (k) my for- 
mer preceptor in philosophy," says Politian, 
' 4 was, though a native of Greece, by no 
means indifferent to Latin literature : and was 
regarded as a person extensively conversant in 
every branch of erudition. Highly honoured 
and respected, as well by Cosmo de r Medici 
as by his son Piero, and his grandson Lorenzo, 
the present ornament of his country, and heir 
of the virtues of his great progenitors ; to the 



(k) Joannes Argyropylus was one of those learned 
Greeks who sought an asylum in Italy, on the taking of 
Constantinople by Mahomet II. and was the first public pro- 
fessor of Greek at Florence : but finally settled at Rome, 
where he died in 1474. To him, as well on his departure 
from Florence,. as on other occasions, Politian addressed 
several Greek epigrams, which may be found in Hody ( de 
Gratcis lllustr.) and inter Poemata Politiani. 

M 






SI 



82 MEMOIRS OF 

former he inscribed the books of Aristotle 
which he translated into the Latin language: 
the latter, when scarce arrived at the age of 
manhood, was instructed by him in that part 
of the Aristotelian philosophy which relates to 
dialectics and morals. But, like a zealous 
Greek, he was vehemently offended at Cicero, 
on account of a passage in his works, in 
which, with no less eloquence than truth, he 
maintains that the Greek language itself some- 
times fails in its boasted copiousnes of expres- 
sion, " Graeciam verborum interdum inopem 
quibus se putat abundare;" an accusation to 
which even Theodore Gaza could subscribe. 
So angry, however, was the Greek professor at 
the parent and prince of Latin eloquence, for 
the reason before- mentioned, that, incredible 
as it may appear, he dared openly to brand 
Cicero as a mere sciolist, not only in philoso- 
phy, but also " (si diis placet)" in Greek li- 
terature ! Indeed it can scarce be said that 
this nation would ever with a good grace, 
allow us natives of Latium, the credit of par- 
ticipating their language and erudition. Ac- 
cording to them, we possess merely the straw 
and chaff of literature, they the grain ; we 
the parings, they the substance ; we the shell, 
Miscei.cap.i. they the kernel. 

Domitius Calderinus (/) had been a pro- 
fessor of considerable eminence antecedently to 



(/) Baillet and M. de la Monnoye assert that his real 
name was Domenico, but that " voulant en avoir un qui 
sentit ancienne Rome," — he chose that of Domitius. From 
Caldicro, famous for its hot baths, where, according to 
them, he was born, lie derived the surname of Caldeiinus. 
They add, that as this place is near Verona, he is generally 



POLITIAN. 83 

the time of Politian's public appearance in the 
like character. When, however, the star of 



said to have been of Verona. MafTei, however, says that he 
was born at " Torri sul lago," and died at Rome, A. D. 
14-77, al the age of thirty-two. 

Te scelerata lues, sexta trieteride nondam 
Bis Domiti .' elapsa, mittit ad Elysios. 

Such was Calderini's early reputation, that at the age of 
twenty-four he was invited by Paul II. to take upon him the 
office of public lecturer on the belles lettres at Rome. From 
Sixtus IV. he received the appointment of Segretario Apos- 
tolico. To him is attributed the praise of having first pointed 
out and exemplified the true method of elucidating ancient 
authors, by combining with verbal criticism the lights of 
antiquarian research, and general erudition. Lucio Fosforo, 
bishop of Segna, a scholar of great respectability, and one 
of Politian's correspondents, judges no critic of later ages 
worth} to rank with the latter, except Laurentius Valla, and 
Domitius «' practer unum et alterum, Laurentium Vallam me 
puero, et nuper Domitium Calderinum, quos quidem non 
faudare et admirari nefas." (Pol. Ep. Lib. iii. ep. 10. J 
" Ecce tibi solutum aenigma Laurentio Vallac et Domitio 
Calderino, Angelum Politianum adjicio, et quasi Triumvi- 
ratum creo." (Ibid.) 

MafFei observes that the literary reputation of Domitius 
procured him many rivals, while living; as Georgius Merula, 
Aurispa, Ang. Sabinus, Nicolaus Perottus, Geor. Trape- 
zuntius, &c. and thatPolitian, ten years after his death, draws 
his character with much more blame than praise. Among 
other works of Domitius, edited and inedited, the same dili- 
gent writer enumerates an ample commentary on Martial, 
printed Venetiis, 14-74, in folio; and inscribed to Lorenzo 
de' Medici. In this work he is charged with many errors ; 
yet according to P. Raderus, he was the first to throw light 
on many of that author's obscure passages. His commentary 
on Juvenal, " cum defensione et recriminatione adversus 
Brotheum Grammaiicunv" under which name he understands 
Angelus Sabinus, who was assisted by Perottus, was printed 
at Rome in the same year as the preceding. The edition of 
Virgil of 1 492, has some notes of his, among others. He 
commented on Ovid's Metamorph. Persius, and Catullus. 
His notes "in Ibin" were published Venet. 1485; on the 
Sylvae of of Statius, Brixiae, 1476, with a dissertation on the 

M 2 



&%' MEMOIRS OF 

Politian began to rise in the literary hemis- 
phere, that of Calderinus was already in its 



letter of Sappho, (inter Ovidii Heroid,) and another on the 
most difficult passages of Propertius, addressed to Francesco 
d* Arragona, son of Ferdinando, king of Naples. 

His poetical talents may in some degree be estimated 
from two epigrams composed " all' improviso ;" the first 
against " L 'Aurispa, Letterato Siciliano ;" the second, on 
the excessive devotion, manifested especially by the Roman 
ladies of those days, at the funeral ceremonies of a supreme 
pontiff. 

Esse Aurispa caput dum Veronensibus inquis 

Insanum, ex patria crederis esse mea. 
Ast ego, cum Siculos mendaces dixero, certe 

Nemo me ex patria dixerit esse tua. 



All Veronese when rashly you malign 
As fools, the world to think you one incline. 
Not dreading to be term'd Sicilian, I 
The assertion risque— Sicilians all will lie. 

Pontifici summo fierent dum funera nuper, 
Oscula defuncto foemina, virque dabat. 

Vidi ego virgineam certatim currere turbam, 
Et rosea in nigris figere labra genis. 

Posthac si sapiet, prsesul quicunque futurus, 
Ipse sibi vivo funera constituet. 



Assembled round the breathless pontiff's bier 
I saw, as throng'd each sex the kiss to share, 
His pallid cheeks by virgin lips caress'd, 
Senseless what rosy lips the kiss impress'd ; 
Each future pontiff, might I dare advise, 
Living, would antedate his obsequies. 

To the foregoing account may be added that of P. Jovius; 
who observes, that Domitius owed his education to the pa- 



^OLITIAN. 85 

decline, and he died about ten years before the 
"Miscellanea" Avere composed. Of his talents, 
application, and skill in Latin literature, Poli- 
tian speaks in handsome terms ; and acknow- 
ledges that his proficiency in Greek was not 
inconsiderable : but adds, that so vain was he 
of his own talents, and so tenacious of any 
opinion he had once adopted, as to adhere to 
it in open defiance of conviction and truth. 
The style of his compositions is haughty, con- 
temptuous and overbearing, he cavils on every 
trifling pretext, and attacks all without dis- 
crimination. These were propensities which 
involved him in numberless disputes with the 
learned of the day. Yet while he was the 
object of undisguised hatred, to persons of 
this description, such was his authority in let- 
ters, that even in his youth he carried away 
the palm of celebrity, from all the Roman 
professors. But reputation, not truth, was 
the object of this professor's aim. In his con- 
jectures, which were not seldom unfortunate, 
and frequently unsupported by authorities, he 
still persisted with unblushing audacity, and 
had often recourse to ambiguous phrases, false 
colouring, wilful perversion, and the like 



tronage of Cardinal Bessarion ; that his remarks on obscure 
passages of classic authors were received at Rome with great 
applause ; and that the publication of his commentaries cer- 
tainly excited bitter contentions among the learned; but 
these very contentions were useful to students, and of ser- 
vice to the cause of letters. Calderini, he adds, affected a 
high tone in his writings, and was too severe and intempe- 
rate in his reflections on the mistakes of others. He was 
carried off by a sudden disease in the midst of his career; 
His funeral was solemnized by the attendance of the mem- 
bers of the academy ; the noble youth put on mourning, an<ji 
his loss was sincerely regretted. 



86 MEMOIRS Or 

- 

mean arts to conceal his ignorance. Merula 
was the first to call in question the infallibility 
of this assuming champion, by detecting va- 
rious errors in his notes upon the works of 
Martial. Politian, at an early period of his 
professorship, had also cautioned his hearers 
against too implicit an acquiescence in the 
decisions of Calderinus, and more particularly 
controverts many of his sentiments in his 
" Miscellanea." " What, however," says he, 
" upon the whole, are my sentiments respect- 
ing Domitius, on balancing his faults and 
good qualities together, may be judged from 
the following epigram of mine, which liac- 
cius Ugolinus of Florence, and Angel us Maf- 
feius of Verona, out of veneration for that 
scholar's memory, caused to be inscribed on a 
marble monument on the banks of the " Lago 
di Garda," the native soil of Domitius, about 
nine years ago." 

Adsta viator! pulverem vides sacrum, 
Quem vorticosi vexat unda Benaci, 
Hoc mutat ipsum saepe Musa Libethron 
Fontemque Sisyphi, ac vireta Pcrmessi, 
Quippe hoc Domitius vagiit solo primum, 
Hie, — ille doctus, ille quem probe ndsti 
Dicta dantcm Romuleae juvcntuti 
Mira eruentem sensa de penu vatum. 
Abi, viator, sat tuis oculis debes. (<■) 



(/;/) Speaking of this tribute of respect by Politian, to 
the memory of Domitius, Mafi'ei terms it " noto elogio. che si 
vede in Torri nobilmenle scolpito in publica pietra." He be- 
lieves Politian composed these iambics on the very spot which 
they celebrate. It appears from Polilians's " prelatio in Sueto- 
uium," that he visited the place of Caldcrini's nativity in quest 



POLITIAN. 87 

Pause, traveller, and mark this hallow "d strand, 
LashM rude Benacus ! with thy eddying wave ; % 
For this, Libethron oft the Muses leave, 
The fount Sisyphian, and that verdant land 
Water'd by soft Permessus ; cradled here, 
This soil Domitius hail'd, her nursling; He, 

i|| 

of an ancient MS. which the latter had been heard to boast 
of having in his possession : ** Nos adolescentes ipsum me- 
minimus audire Domitium cum diceret habere se peculiarem 
Marii Rustici librum quern ceteris incognitum de Gallia at- 
tulisset. Atque ego quidem studio incogniti mihi scriptoris 
incensus, etiam ad ipsius Domitii parentes, Benaci lacus ac- 
colas, accessi; omnemqueejus librorum suppellectilem scru- 
tatus, Marium certe hunc Rusticum inveni nusquam." 
(Maffei Verona Illustrata.) 

Besides the verses abovementioned, Politian also com- 
posed the following sepulchral inscription for his literary rival. 

Hunc Domiti siccis tumulum qui transit ocellis, 

Vel Phoebo ignarus, vel male gratus homo est. 
Intulit hie vatum coecis pia lumina chartis; 

Obstrusum ad Musas hie patefecit iter. 
Hunc Verona tulit, docti patria ilia Catulli; 

Huic lethum atque urnam Roma dedit juveni. 



Here rests Domitius : who denies a tear, 

Ingrate is he, or not to Phcebus dear; 

On learning's darksome page the lucid ray 

He pour'd, and opM to song the obstructed way. 

Amid thy native haunts, Catullus ! born, 

Rome mourn'd his timeless fall, and consecrates his urn. 



Politian had, in his youth, been honoured by a very flat- 
tering compliment from Domitius. Having in the presence of 
several learned men stated his sentiments respecting a parti- 
cular passage in Catullus, that professor received his obser- 
vations with so much applause, as ingenuously t© confess, 
that he had, that day, learned more from a single student, 
than he had done, in the course of many years, from any 
professor. (Vide Miscel. cap. xlx.J 






88 MEMOIRS OF 

I Though dead, alike to fame survives and thee, 

Who vers'd profound in depths of classic lore 
To Rome's admiring youth reveal'd the store. 
Traveller, depart, and hold the record dear. 






m 



Jacobus Antiquarius, the friend and cor- 
respondent of Politian, probably thought more 
favourably of Calderini's literary integrity. 
" Why," he asks, " should you so frequently 
combat with Domitius as with a phantom, 
since he has long since ceased to exist among 
us. He did his utmost to benefit literature. 
He was among the first to cleanse ancient 
authors from their dust and defilement. Either 
by emulating or imitating your example, Po- 
litian ! he would, had he still lived, daily 
have improved in the art of terse, and polished 
composition. In attacking Domitius, you 
seem to me to attack a leader of great respec- 
tability in the advanced guard of letters. He 
was taken away as you well know by a prema- 
ture death : otherwise he would possibly have 
corrected such passages of his works, as bear 
the marks of haste and inconsideration. Those 
who have not erred intentionally, should not, 
in my opinion, be capitally arraigned. Domi- 
tius was one of us ; and he has left monu- 
ments of his industry which do him no dis- 
e p . Poi. Lib. honour." 

iii. ep. 18. 

The learned subject of our enquiries, like the 
vide ciceron R° man orator, has not omitted to amplify the 
Dc oratore, difficulties of his own art. He observes, that 
whosoever undertakes to unravel the mysteries 
of the ancient poets, should first have per- 
formed his lucubrations, before the lamp, not 



Lib. i, 






POLITIAN. 89 

only of Aristophanes, (w) but also of Clean- 
thes ; and asserts a thorough and intimate' 
acquaintance with the writings of the philoso- 
phers, civilians, naturalists, dialecticians, cri- 
tics of antiquity, and, in short, with the 
whole circle of sciences, to be requisite in 
order to this arduous undertaking. Forgetful 
of no incident which might serve to display to 
advantage his own literary powers, he informs 
us, that being on a particular occasion at 
Verona, he explained in a single lecture the 
whole of Catullus, in the shop of an artizan, 
in which he and his auditory had been com- 
pelled by a shower of rain to take refuge. On 
this occasion were present, one of the learned 
family of the Guarini, a descendant of Dante, 
the Florentine poet, two professors of Verona, 
and a considerable number of young students, 
at whose earnest solicitations he undertook 
this office, and who not only listened with 
the most eager attention, to his observations, 
but even carried their applause so far as re- 
peatedly to exclaim " demissum coelitus An- 



(«) Politian probably alludes in this passage to Aristo- 
phanes, the Byzantine grammarian, to whom the learned 
attribute the invention of prosody, accentual marks, and the 
earliest kind of stops or pauses, used in writing. He was a 
scholar of Callimachus and Zenodotus ; and Salmasius places 
him about the one hundred and forty-third olympiad. The 
same learned critic has given a particular account of Aristo- 
phanes, and his invention ; whence he has introduced some 
interesting criteria whereby to distinguish the antiquity of 
inscriptions, MSS. &c. ( See his correspondence with Sarrau, 
inter Epist. Gudii et doctorum: curante Burmamio. ep. 183, et 
seqq. Edit. Hag. Corn. 1714J 4to.J The stoic philosopher 
Cleanthes, whose nights were spent in drawing and carrying 
water, and his days in the acquisition of knowledge, is no 
stranger to the classical reader. 

N 



, 



90 MEMOIRS OF 

gelum sibi, qui poetam conterraneum interpre- 



Miscellaneor. taretUl*.' 
cao. xix, 






cap. xix, 

Politian claims the merit, (if merit it can 
be called) of first solving the enigma, which 
Gellius cites from Varro, and leaves unex- 
plained, " ut legentium conjecturas acuat." 
It is as follows : 

Semel minusne, an bis minus, non sat scio, 
An utrumque horum, ut quondam audivi dicier, 
Jovi ipsi regi noluit concedere. (o) 

From " semel minus," and " bis minus" 
results " ter minus." Terminus, therefore, 
in the opinion of Politian, is the solution. It 
was Terminus who refused to give place to 
Jupiter when the capitol was about to be 
Fastor. Lib. ii. erected. Thus Ovid : 

Quid nova cum fierent Capitolia; — nempedeorum 

Cuncta Jovi cessit turba, locumque dedit. 
Terminus, ut veteres memorant, inventus in rede 
Miscellaneor. Restitit, et magno cum Jove templa tenet. 



(o) Erasmus was presented by the archbishop of St. 
Andrew's, son of James, king of Scotland, his pupil, with a 
ring, which was embellished with a gem bearing an engraved 
figure of Terminus. That scholar thought he discovered in 
this emblematical divinity an apt memento of death. M Mors 
enim," says he, " vere Terminus est, qui nulli cedere vo- 
luit." Willing to turn this moral hint, as he expresses him- 
self, " ad vitae correctionem," and to perpetuate its effect, 
he adopted Terminus as the device for his seal, adding in 
the field or middle of the impression, "Concfdo Nvi li ;" 
and around the verge, " OPA TEAOS MAKPOY BIOY," and 
" Mors ultima linea rkkum." Though the moral 
intention of this device could not be obscure, yet the motto, 
" concedo nulli" appears to have given great offence to many, 
and to have drawn upon Krasmus the imputation of insuffer- 
able vanity. " Un cordelier, nomine Carvajal," sa)s Bui- 



POLITIAN. <n 

Other passages of the " Miscellanea" inci- 
dentally call the reader's notice to the spirit of 
antiquarian research, and the enthusiasm for 
collecting and studying the remains of ancient 
art, which accompanied the revival of learn- 
ing. " I lately saw, says Politian, " in the 
vestibule of the Mellini palace at Rome, a 
marble fragment, which appeared to have been 
the base of an antique statue, bearing the fol- 
lowing inscription : 

2EAEYK0S BASIAEYS AYEinnOE EFIOIEI, 



which signifies in Latin, " Seleucus rex. Ly- 
sippus faciebat.'* Joannes Laurentius, (/>) a 



lart, " s'emportant pardessus les autres, 1* attaqua chaude- 
ment en cette sorte. Erasme se fache (dit-il) de ce que les 
evangelistes sont reduits au nombre de quatre, et qu* il n* y 
peut estre compris ; croyant qu* il ne leur est pas inferieur, 
et qu' il n* a point de superieur dans la doctrine : car il met 
au bas de tous ses Merits ces paroles pleines d' orgueil, Je ne 
cede a personne ; et afin que 1' on n' ignore pas cette folie, il 
y ajoute 1* effigie du dieu Terme, imprim£e dans la cire ; 
lequel dieu ne cedoit pas mesme a. Jupiter. Cette insolence 
ne surpasse-t' elle pas toutes les insolences ? Que dites 
vous, Erasme ? Ne cedez vous pas a Bude, a Capnion, a 
Clicthove'e, a Pic de la Mirandole, a Ange Politien ? Je ne 
cede, dit-il, a personne. Ne cedez vous pas a Saint Am- 
broise, k Saint Augustin, a. Saint Hierosme ? Je ne cede a 
personne. Non pas a Saint Hilaire, a Saint Cyprien, a Lac- 
tance, a Origene ? A personne. — O ! le siecle heureux, qui 
nous a donne' un tel homme." Vide Bullart Academie des 
Sciences, et des Arts. Tom. ii. p. 163, in fol. Amst. 1682; 
and, Erasmi opera, torn. ix. p. 1442 — 3. Editionis Frobeni* 
anoe. Basil. 1540, in fol. where Erasmus very pleasantly 
vindicates himself from these injurious aspersions. 

(p) Joannes Laurentius had the reputation of an 

excellent antiquary, and was eminent for his skill in decy- 

phering and explaining Greek and Latin inscriptions. He 

was secretary to Pope Innocent VIII. He translated two of 

N g 



93 'MEMOIRS OF 

Venetian, the pope's secretary, was then with 
us, a person deeply skilled in both languages, 



the " Opuscula" of Plutarch : " Quoraodo ab Adulatore dis- 
cernatur Amicus : w Rurnce, 1514, 4to. and " De Curiositate 
et Nugacitate :" ibid. 1523. His books and other effects 
descended by inheritance to his brother, whose tragical ca- 
tastrophe is related by Burcardo d* Argentina, in his " Istoria 
Arcana di Alessandro VI." p. 87, ed. Hanov. 1697, in 4to. 

The taste for collecting sc lapide antiche," (says Fosca- 
rini, delta Letter. Venez.) commenced in the fifteenth cen- 
tury. Giovanni Marcanova, a Venetian, though deemed by 
some a Paduan, Ciriico de' Pizzicolli, Felice Feliciano, 
Pomponio Leto, and Jacopo Antiquario, are mentioned as 
the first, or among the first, who cultivated this study. 
Andrea Santa Croce also composed ". Un Libro di Lapide 
Latine," in the pontificate of Pius II. which he inscribed to 
the cardinal of Pavia, (one of Politian's correspondents) an 
inedited work; and Domenico Grimani, made cardinal in 
1497, by Alexander VI. whose expensive collections of this 
nature are celebrated by various authors. See Politian's let- 
ter addressed to him, and Pizzamano. (Ep. Lib. iv. ep. 7 .) 

Amongst those who distinguished themselves by similar 
researches, Agostino Maffei is also deserving of special men- 
tion. This learned ecclesiastic was originally of Verona ; 
but together with two of his brothers became resident at 
Rome : where we find them in high consideration with its 
court and pontiff, in the time of Paul II. and of several of 
his successors. He deserves to be ranked among the Vero- 
nese writers, on account of an elegant letter of his, which 
occurs among those of Politian, and has respect to that scho- 
lar's version of Herodian : but he may with still greater 
reason be placed among the principal encouragers ot litera- 
ture and learned men His countryman, Scipio MarTei, 
(Verona Ilhistrata) pronounces him the very first person 
who aided classical researches by a methodical collection of 
antiques. " Cestui fu il primo, chi a gli studi porgesse 
aiuto col raccogliere antichita erudite, e ibrmar Museo, di 
MSS. di statue, di medagne, e d' ogni genere di monumenti 
facendo incetta." Domitius Calderinus in his commentaries 
on the " Sylvae" of Statius, published at Brescia, A. D. 
1476, and inscribed to Agostino Mallei, on a passage of the 
fourth book relating to a statue of Hercules, has the follow- 
\ ing expression: " Ha^c Sylva tota tua est, Augustine, con- 

tinet cnim laudem imaginis antiquae et signorum, quorum tu 



P0LITIAN. S3 

and a great admirer of these classical remains. 
He justly observed, that the word " IntoUC 
was by no means undesignedly substituted for 
" ivoLvi<reu ;" since, as Pliny in the preface to 
his M Natural History," observes, the greatest 
artists were wont to inscribe their works when 
finished " pendenti titulo." Thus did Apelles 
and Policlitus, as if their art were always in 
an incipient and imperfect state ; and that in 
opposition to the variety of judgments which 
might be passed upon his work, the artist 
might enjoy, as a privilege generally allowa- 



studiosissimus es, gloriam extollit." (Vide Maffei ut supra.) 
Politian (Ep. Lib. 6. ep. 7.) makes Augustinus Maffeius 
this acknowledgment : " You entertained me when at Rome 
the last summer, in your own house, and most obligingly 
exhibited to me your very numerous and rich collection of 
ancient books and monuments, in which I take a singular 
pleasure. You — all the learned regard with reverence ; 
yourself a learned man, and a patron of letters." He men- 
tions a very ancient and unpublished grammatical work, 
which (having merely solicited to borrow it from Maffei) the 
latter had munificently and freely presented to him. (Ibid.) 
Pomponius Laetus, dedicating to Augustinus his edition of 
Sallust, denominates him, " Thesaurus rerum Romanarum;" 
" Augustino Mafeo Rerum Romanorum Thesauro ;" allud- 
ing to his extensive collections of ancient and classical 
remains. 

The collection begun by Agostino continued to receive 
new and valuable acquisitions through the zeal of his succes- 
sors, and, by a singular good fortune, remained in the same 
family for more than a century. No collection that adorned 
the venerable city of Rome, says Maffei, has been more 
frequently mentioned and referred to by good authors than 
this. ( Vide Verona Illustrata.) 

Among the earliest promoters of antiquarian research, 
Politian's patron must not be forgotten. Not only the Co- 
dices, but the Marmora, the Numismata of Lauren- 
tius Medices were perpetual sources of information to Poli- 
tian ; and he is continually citing them. ( Vide Miscellanea 
ejus fyc. passim.) 



94- MEMOIRS OF 

ble and understood, the free liberty of amend- 
ing any thing that appeared to stand in need 
of correction, whilst he had not precluded 
himself from it. A remarkable instance of 
modesty in such men, thus so to inscribe every 
individual work which they executed, as to 
convey the idea that it was the last in which 
they engaged ; — and that death prevented 

Misceii. cap. tnem fr° m g lvm g to e & cn the perfection of 

xivii. which it was susceptible. 

In the concluding pages of this work, Po- 
litian acquaints his readers, that having, in 
the year preceding their publication, arranged 
his " Miscellanea" nearly in their present 
form, and submitted the manuscript to the 
inspection of his friends, a report was clan- 
destinely propagated, that he had purloined 
all the valuable part of his materials from the 
" Cornucopia" of Nicolaus Perottus. (q) That 






(g) Nicolao Perotto, archbishop of Siponto, was born 
at Sassoferrato, in Umbria. He flourished about the year 
1470. He had a very considerable acquaintance with the 
Latin and Greek languages; and his literary merits and in- 
dustry raised him to the archbishopric of Siponto. He died 
at Sassoferrato, in the villa said to have been named by him 
Fugicura. His literary productions are, a Latin translation 
of Polybius ; and " Commentariorum Linguae Latinae Vo- 
lumen," entitled " Cornucopia:," published after his decease. 
(Vide Freherum, et P. Juvium.) 

Nicolaus Perottus, Saxoferratensis, Sipontinus episcopus, 
cuius praeclarum opus, " Cornucopia?, seu Commentariorum 
Lingua? Latina? Volumen^" (quod idem commenlarius in 
Martialem est) omnem Latini sermonis elegantiam et ratio- 
nem nisu eximio complectitur ; turn qua? apud Martialem 
oeeurrit, turn qua? ad Martialem ex aliis ab ipso alVeiunlur. 
Optima ejus editio prodiit apud Aldum, Venetiis ; anno 
1513, quae postraddum Basilca? apud Curionem et Walde- 
rum aliquot ies iterata est. Et sane, honor illi viro habendus 
primo purioris Linguae Latinae coflectori; unde sua praecipue 
dt-rivarunt, qui post ilium scripscre. Equidem amolitur a se 



POLITIAN. 95 

work, not then published, appears to have 
remained in the possession of the duke of Ur- 
bino, to whom its author had inscribed it; 
and to the interest which Lorenzo de' Medici 
possessed with that prince, malevolence attri- 
buted Politian's access to the manuscript. The 
injured professor, informed of this rumour, 
"quickly," as he expresses himself, " recog- 
nised the manoeuvres of envy, who, Proteus- 
like, changes herself into all shapes, for the 
accomplishment of her malignant purposes : 

" Spumat aper, fluit unda, fremit leo, sibilat anguis r" 

Indignant at so dishonourable an attack upon 
his reputation, he determined to delay for a 
short season the publication of his Miscella- 
nies ; and in conjunction with his beloved 
friend Picus of Mirandula, to devote this in- 
terval to philosophical studies. Whilst he was 
thus employed, the " Cornucopia" of Perot- 
tus, as he had probably foreseen, is made 
public. " Seized," adds Politian, " with ge- 



intentatum crimen istud Angelus Politianus in Miscellaneis, 
cui objectum fuerat, &c. — Sed si excusandus est Angelus, 
certe non idem merentur alii Perotti strenui transcriptores. 
Hos inter, non minimus Ambrosius Calepinus, &c." (Vide 
Morhof. Polyhist. Lib. iv. cap. ix.J 

Politian, in the conclusion of this vindication of himself 
from the charge of plagiarism, observes, <e Pereant/' Dona- 
tus aiebat, " qui ante nos nostra dixerunt. Nos ei prospera 
faustaque precamur et cupimus, qui nostra post nos aut in- 
venit aut certe dixit/' (Miscell. cap. ult.J *' Festivum 
est," (says MorhofF in a passage which happens to illustrate 
the foregoing) " quod Hieronymus (et ex eo Menagius) ad 
ilium Ecclesiastae, " Nihil sub sole novum," de Donato, 
praeceptore suo, refert ; eum, cum ilia Terentii explicaret 
"Nihil dictum quod non dictum sit prius," stomachantem et 
indignabundum identidem exclamasse, " Pereant qui ante 
nos nostra dixerunt." (Polyhist, Lib. vii. cap, 1.) 



9<J 



MEMOIRS OP 



neral avidity, it is emptied, as it were, to the 
very bottom, and its contents are anxiously 
scrutinized. Politian stands fully acquitted 
from the charge of plagiarism. Then might 
you easily discern in the countenances of cer- 
tain persons, the lowering cloud of sullen dis- 
appointment, intermingled with that selfac- 
A .. cusing blush which suffused the cheek of 

Miscell. cap. -m P mi i •» 

U k. Jrlatos lhrasymachus. 



Politian's Latin version of " Herodian," 
is universally allowed to be a masterly per- 
formance : and perhaps no other translation of 
any Greek author has been so much, and so 
generally admired. Some critics have declar- 
ed, that if the Greek of Herodian could have 
been suppressed, this work might have passed 
among the learned, for the classical and finish- 
ed production of some original pen of anti- 
quity, (r) Yet probably Politian, like other 



(r) Those who were desirous to decry, but dared not 
refuse to acknowledge the excellency of this translation of 
Herodian, are said to have accused Politian of having sur- 
reptitiously published as his own, a version previously made, 
by Gregorius of Tiphernum : whilst others, probably with 
great reason, doubt the existence of such aversion. M. de 
la Monnoye maintains, that Omnibuono, a native of Lunigo, 
near Vicenza, commonly denominated Omnibonus Leonicenus 
Vicenlinus, was the author of this prior version. Part of 
Omnibuono's version (viz. Severi Imperatoris Deificatio) is 
inserted by Flavius Blondus, in his " Romae Triumphantis, 
Lib. ii." p. 44, et seqq. and Menckenius himself is compelled 
to acknowledge, that Politian had seen at least this part of 
Omnibuono's work, and made use of it to his own advan- 
tage. The parallel passages adduced by Menckenius from 

de la Monnoye, are as follows : 



M S 



LEONICENUS. 

" Mos est Romanis consecrare imperatores, qui super- 



POLITIAN. 97 

authors, was sometimes led to estimate the 
value of his works, by the labour bestowed 
upon them ; which may account for the slight 
terms in which he speaks of this translation, 
in the following letter. 

Angelus Politianus to Andreas Magnanimus. 

u You say my " Herodian" is loudly called 
for by the printers : mine I may justly term 
him, since I have given him a Latin existence. Lib iv# ep- 
You also desire me to return your copy which 13 - 
formerly belonged to me. As it is their wish, 
I send it to you with my corrections, in which 
however I have been sparing, rather than free. 
Not but that you will find in the volume more 
errors of mine than of the transcriber. But 
certainly more allowance is due to the pen 
of the translator, than to the author's ; since 



stitibus filiis vel successoribus moriuntur. Et ejusmodi ho- 
norem deificationem appellant : luctus quidem per omnem 
urbem ostenditur, festa celebritate permixtus. Corpus enim 
defuncti, pro ritu hominum, sumptuoso funere sepeliunt; 
sed ceream imaginem defuncto simillimam fingunt, quam sub 
vestibulo praetorii proponunt in eburneo lecto magno atque 
sublimit vestibus aureis instrato." 

POLITIAN. 

" Mos est Romanis consecrare imperatores, qui supersti- 
tibus filiis vel successoribus moriuntur. Quique eo sunt 
honore affecti, relati dicuntur inter divos. Est autem tota 
urbe quasi luctus quidarn festa? celebritati promiscuus. 
Quippe functum vita corpus ritu hominum sumptuoso funere 
sepeliunt. Sed ceream imaginem defuncto quam simillimam 
effingunt, eamque in regiae vestibulo proponunt, supra ebur- 
neum lecturn maximum atque sublimem vestibus instratum 
aureis." 

O 



\ 



98- MEMOIRS OF 

thoughts may be better expressed in the lati- 
tude and freedom of original composition, 
than in a version where definite bounds are 
prescribed. I would add, that it is a work, 
on which no great labour was bestowed : since 
I dictated the whole in the space of a few 
days ; principally as I took the exercise of 
walking. I am therefore so far from expect- 
ing any great credit from this version, that I 
shall think myself sufficiently fortunate, if I 
escape severe censure : — consequently I not 
only excuse, but almost interdict you, and 
the rest of my friends, from defending it : 
wishing to reserve your good offices, wholly 
for other publications which I have in 
view." («?) 

This celebrated version is inscribed by Po- 

litian to Pope Innocent VIII. The epistle 

Lib.viii.ep.i. dedicatory may be found amongst his letters, . 

and is prefixed to most of the ancient editions 

of the work. It may not be improper to subjoin 



{s) This letter, which Politian concludes with some 
instructions to his friend, which shew how much he wished 
that the most minute exactness should be observed in the 
superintendance of the press, he dates, " e Rusculo Fassu- 
lano prid. non. Maias," (i. e. May 6) 1493. The first edi- 
tion of this work was compleated at Rome, die xx. Junii, 
1493. For the colophon, &c. see " De Bure's Bibliograph. 
Instructive:" who mentions two other editions published at 
Bologna in the same year. (Artie. 4940 tt seqq. torn, v.) 
Hence it becomes necessary to observe, that though the 
actual publication of Politian's translation of Herodian did 
not take place til) some little time after the decease of Lo- 
renzo de' Medici; it was, however, compleated and ad- 
dressed to Innocent VIII. so early as A. D. 14S7. That 
pontiff's letters to Politian and Lorenzo de' Medici, in com- 
» mendation of this performance, bear date, Die xvi. August'/, 

m.cccclxxxvii. in the third year of his pontificate. 



f 



POLITIAN. 99 

a translation of it: especially as it contains 
allusions to some of the public events of these 
times. 



Angelas Politianus to Innocent VIII. Pont. 
Max. 

f< When I was at Rome, about three years 
ago, in the retinue of the Florentine embassy 
which was sent to congratulate your Holiness, 
on your recent exaltation to the pontifical 
dignity, I recollect that on a public occasion, 
you honoured me with the charge of translat- 
ing into the Latin tongue the transactions of 
Roman princes, if any records of them should 
be discovered among- the remains of Grecian 
literature, with which our countrymen were 
yet unacquainted. Sensible that by your high 
mandate no less duty than honour was laid 
upon me, I began to consider with great 
solicitude, of which of the numerous Greek 
authors I should undertake a version. Hero- 
dian was among the first to occur to me ; who 
so excellently details events : — had been him- 
self so long conversant at court: — and when 
far advanced in years, undertook to compose 
a history of his own times : and who obtained 
the palm of eloquence, and wonderfully main- 
tained the veracity and freedom of a histo- 
rian. The work had been already compleated, 
without occasioning me much trouble ; and I 
flatter myself, not " in despite of Minerva," 
when public disturbances intervened, to in- 
terrupt my studies, and in a measure banish 
that chearfulness of mind, which is a principal 
help to composition. But when, by your wis- 
dom, you had restored to Italy the peace she 



100 MEMOIRS OF 

so much desired, and had formed a private 
alliance with my patron, Laurentius Medices, 
a person of exalted fortune, but of still more 
exalted genius and prudence: — the storm was, 
as it were, dispersed ; and is succeeded by an 
universal calm. We are now permitted to 
breathe from our calamities ; and like flowers 
lately surcharged with rain, and ready to shed 
their leaves, are enabled once more to erect 
our heads to the returning rays of a genial 
sun. I please myself with the thoughts of 
publishing what I have already written : and 
project further literary undertakings, which 
may redound to the honour of your name, 
and instruct or benefit the studious of our 
times. Condescend then graciously to accept 
our Herodian, as a prelude to other works, 
perhaps more worthy your high patronage. 
You will find in him, a variety of characters 
and transactions: — an agreeable novelty: — 
surprizing instances of the mutability of for- 
tune : — unexpected events : — seasonable and 
weighty reflections : — a style at once harmoni- 
ous and dignified. The work comprehends a 
copious source of moral instruction, and forms 
a kind of mirror of human life, by consulting 
which, mankind may derive information of 
great public as well as private utility. I have 
executed this translation to the best of my 
ability : and hope it will be found in all re- 
spects a faithful one ; that it betrays nothing 
impertinent or adscititious, and that no Greek 
idioms, which have not been sanctioned by 
custom, detract from the purity of the style : 
that the Greek and Latin texts correspond in 
^ perspicuity, possessed of the same ehastencss, 

and bearing the same character : and that 



POLITIAN. 101 

none of the expressions are harsh or over- 
strained. As you have already condescended, 
holy Father ! to hold out to me from your 
exalted station the signal of hope ; continue, 
I beseech you, to cherish, and confer splendour 
on learning and the useful arts ; which sup- 
pliantly prostrate themselves at your sacred 
feet, imploring your protection against igno- 
rance and barbarism. As you have given 
peace to Italy, and consequently to the world; 
let it be your pleasure to vindicate the sci- 
ences, which are fostered by the wings of 
peace, from insult and injury. " 

Innocentius VIII. to Angelus Politianus. Lib.viu.ep.2. 

" We received with great satisfaction the 
work you lately sent us, translated from the 
Greek into the Latin language : both on ac- 
count of its novelty, and because it is, in the , 
judgment of the learned about our person, so 
embellished by your erudition and genius, that 
it cannot fail of proving a valuable acquisition 
to our library. We return you our sincere 
thanks, and commend your diligence; ex- 
horting you to persevere in labours of so 
praiseworthy a nature ; which must tend to 
reflect the highest credit on yourself, and 
entitle you to more considerable proofs of our 
favour. At present, in token of our satisfac- 
tion, and paternal affection for you, we have 
resolved to transmit to you two hundred gold 
crowns, by our beloved son Joannes Torna- 
bonus : to assist in placing you in those easy 
circumstances, which may enable you to de- 
vote your time wholly to studies of this na- 
ture." 



A 



» 



102 MEMOIRS OF 

Innocent's letter to Politian was accom- 
panied by another to Lorenzo de' Medici, to 
the same effect. Of the version of Herodian, 
he says, " erit apud nos ut decet, in magno 
honore, bibliothecse nostrse ornamentum, vir- 
tutis et doctrinae illius testimonium. " He 

tib.viii.ep.3. exhorts Lorenzo to use his influence, to en- 
gage Politian in similar undertakings ; and 
promises to reward his exertions by benefices 
and other means within his power : finally 
making mention of the two hundred gold 
crowns which he has already sent : "nehic 
liber indonatus remaneret." Politian did not 
neglect to express his thanks to Innocent, by 

ttb.viii.ep.4. a second letter, wherein he extols his bounty, 
and infers that such a disposition to encourage 
literature, on the part of his Holiness, cannot 
fail to revive the spirits of men of learning, 
and excite their diligence : and he promises to 
redouble his own efforts, to produce some- 
thing more worthy of so exalted a patron. (f) 
Nor was he wanting in the improvement of 
such occasions as presented themselves, of 
strengthening his interests at Rome : as may 
be discovered from his letters to several cardi- 
nals and bishops ; the main object of which 
was to engage their good offices with the pon- 



(r) From the conclusion of this letter it appears, that 
even at this season, — the commencement of the reign of 
good sense, extravagant adulation continued, on some oc- 
casions, to form a part of the etiquette of the day. 

" Spero autem fore," says Politian,'' quamdiu sub umbra 

tui Numinis recubuero, ita ab omnibus vel incommoditati- 

bus quas vita humana fert, vel languoribus molestiisque 

^ exolvar, ut ab umbra Apostoli Petri, cujus tu locum in islo 

fastigio obtines, omni prorsus acgritudine homines libera- 
bantur." 



poLiTiAsr. 103 

tiff in his behalf, as opportunities might oc- 
cur. , 

The " Greek Epigrams" of Politian 
were written, for the most part, when he was 
very young. He writes to one of his friends, 
to consult him on the propriety of publishing 
them : — observing, " that many flatter him it 
will conduce to the glory, not only of his 
country, but of the age itself, should a native 
of Italy be the occasion of interrupting the 
long slumbers of the Grecian Muse : — no poem 
in that language having appeared during the 
space of the last six hundred years, that de- 
served to be read." From the address to the Lib. ix. ep 9. 
reader, however, prefixed to the " Greek Epi- 
grams," in the volume of Politian's works, 
they appear to have been published after the 
death of the author, from the original manu- 
script, by Zenobius Acciajolus ; who acknow- 
ledges that he did not consider them, as " ju- 
dicio auctoris ad asternitatem probata:" and 
some of them might have been suppressed, 
probably without injury to the literary, and 
certainly with advantage to the moral reputa- 
tion of the author. 

Joannes Lascar is indulged his spleen by 
ridiculing, in the following verses, Politian's 
practice of prefixing to his Greek epigrams 
the year of his age, in which they were com- 
posed. 



FLA IS at/locr^E^to;?, efctta^gjcalw ^ EVjat/ta, 

'AITEAE, (prj?, ETrotyv (Qav[*>x) to^-5' iXsyaj. 



104 MEMOIRS OF 

in Menagia- Menage, from whom Menckenius cites 

nis, torn. it. - i ° • i • 1 n u 

p. 436, et the above epigram, has given the following 
set ^- translation of it. 

A Haute voix Sire Angelo publie 

Qu' en langue Grecque il a fait, a seize ans, 

Vers si tres-beaux qu' ils charraent l' Italie, 

Et de la Grece ^torment les savan's. 

Le miracle est sans doute des plus grans ; 

Moindre, pourtant, que celui ci, je gage; 

C'est qu' Angelo, qui des seize ans a su 

Plus mille fois qu' on ne sait a tel age, 

Ore a quarante, apres avoir tout lu, 

N'a de savoir pas un grain davantage. 

Several of Politian's Greek epigrams will 
hereafter claim our attention, as they inciden- 
tally happen to throw light upon our enquiries. 
The two following, which are marked as the 
productions of his eighteenth year, will ena- 
ble the reader to form an estimate of his suc- 
cess in this novel species of composition. 

AD JOANNEM BAPTISTAM BON ISICNIUM. 

HAH rot vetpoc pi* ^»/xa!», vrapx £' dcnvtiog 6[jJoft>;, 

Aypovojutot r ttyvyov, (xtr<* $t vrcuret 9roXt?. 
Su juioyoj atvaa? nolcc.fx.bii; xaj ovptot QvX\ct 

TLotrcri Trcpa? dncxKoi;, av fxovoq dUpx, ftp* ; 
Nuv /xev dp wlwfvla Xctyvv, vvv F dy^ov obiycc 

Ei? Ta \w £jj.£xMuv xap^apo^o>l» xvvi. 
Nu/ut(f)a? r 'wQopx*; QtXyuv KoXvStvSptu v\f 

rXurlr^ r y$i Xuprjj cc.fA.Gpolov dcrfxat X Hi< »' 
&ivpo, <MAOS, fxr\ Qtvyt (QtXuq, xcu ^a^to x-ctipu-, 
» IT»xpa. oivivyt ^iXwv Ir» *oii dp£potrnn. 



POLITIAN. 105 



TO JOANNES BAPTISTA BONISIGNIUS. 

From the Greek of Politian. 

The rains descend, the wintry blast blows keen, 
See ! all in haste desert the rural scene ! 
Teems the full city ! you the mountain steep 
Traverse alone, or stem the torrent's deep : 
In dew-besprinkled grots, your toils prepare, 
Or chace the chamois or the listening hare : 
Or woo the nymphs with more than mortal song, 
While rapt groves listen, and the strains prolong.— 
But brave no more, my Friend, the inclement skies ; 
Rejoin our choir, and think of social joys :-->- 
For say, to solitu de what sweets can yield 
The morning's fragrance, or the ambrosial field ? 

ad eundem. 

NTN ys Nolo? ic]vit jutsXavoTrlspas a,<7tff{lov o/x£poy, 

H&i xai yt^a^aj 0p»i| Bopsaj <?vv<x,yti t 
Qnyv* xc" tIsXewv SjwapavQii fyvW' Ivi ycciri, 

Xst^ta ^e xeplojusov ovpscn xEtps Jtofxaj. 
TttVKUi cwcapTTo* taa-aiv, ast Qn\u$ TTEp |y<rat, 

t\iKopok r ihccxu, kou QavaJoio ^ulov. 
AXXa xou wj datyvn te x.cu irokKi'hov tfvog IXotictj 

4>yXXwv xeu xapTTwy ^aipscn /3pi0o<n/y>n 
nav"i» yap aAXa. xp°v« xp<* *p°* xo-'Ie&jCW oJo/Ies : 

A<f)0aplo5 ^' tjpy ?r» /^oyoy £o$w. 



P 



106 MEMOIRS OF 



TO THE SAME. 



See dreary Notus shakes his flagging wing 
'Mid scowling skies, — while Bore as hastes to fling 
His snowy influence round : the grove has shed 
Its wither'd honours on the mountain's head :— - 
Even funeral cypress, and the sombre pine, 
(Retain'd their verdure) now their fruits resign: 
Yet still productive through the wintry scene 
The olive blooms, and laurel ever green. 
Wisdom ! thy plants no blights of age consume* 
Deathless they bud, — and breathe a rich perfume. 

Of Politian's poetical translation of Ho- 
mer, (v) which he is supposed to have com- 



(v ) Mr. Roscoe has noticed the translation of Homer's 
u Batrachomyomachia" into Latin verse, b) Carlo Areiino, 
published at Parma, 1492, and again at Florence, 1512. 
Mattaire, in his edition of the " Batrachomyomachia," Lond. 
1721, 8vo. presents the reader with a copy of Arelino's 
version, in which the form and orthography of the ancient 
edition are preserved. 

Landino has left an eulogium on Carlo Aretino, who 
succeeded Leonardo as secretary to the Florentine republic. 
Carlo is especially to be ranked among the poets of his day. 
The eulogy of Landino affords express testimony that he had 
begun a translation of the Iliad into Latin verse. But he 
does not appear to have gone through the first book, when 
his design was interrupted by death. 

" Urbs tulit Arreti Carolum : Florentia lauro 

Cinxit: at ingenium Calliopea dedit. 
Luserat hie lyricos : mox dum converlit Homerum, 

Occidit heu ! patriae gloria magna sua'." 

Landini Poem, inter Cart*, lllustr. Poet* ltd. 

In addition to the translations of the Iliad into Latin verse 
enumerated by Mr. Roscoe, may be mentioned that of Eo- 



POLITIAN. 107 

pleated, but of which no part is at present 
known to remain, frequent mention occurs in g^L^I?*' 
his writings, and in those of his learned cor- 6o3,Par. 1W1, 
respondents. The loss of so interesting a pro- infoL 
duction is indeed greatly to be regretted. 
" Fondan^' says Aldus Manutius, " lived 
not to superintend the publication of his own 
works. This office devolved upon his friends, 
and particularly upon Alexander Sartius, of 
Bologna, a person who ranks highly in the es- 
timation of the learned. Any thing which may 
appear in them exceptionable or erroneous, he 
would doubtless have corrected had he lived 
some time longer. Had he indeed attained to 
the usual extent of human existence, those 
now presented to the public would have form- 
ed a small part only of his literary labours. 
He would have restored the true readings of 
the Pandects, or code of civil law brought 
from Pisa. He would have illustrated them 
by his classic pen, with learned commentaries. 
He had very successfully begun to free philo- 
sophy from the jargon of barbarism. He had 
pledged himself, within the space of ten years, # 
to illustrate by his pen, or from the chair, the 



banus Hessus, whose birth Baillet fixes in I4S8, and his 
death in 1540. In a volume entitled " Belli Trojani Scrip- 
tores praecipui," 8vo. Bas. 1573, a poetical Latin version of 
the Iliad occurs: — of which the first, second, and ninth 
books, are given to Vincentius Obsopseus : the third, fourth, 
and fifth to Nicolaus Valla : the sixth, seventh, and eighth 
to Eobanus Hessus: the rest are anonymous. The same 
volume contains the poem of our own Josephus Iscanus, or 
Joseph of Exeter, " de Bello Trojano,"— -but it is there falsely 
ascribed to Cornelius Nepos. Some account of this very 
early English writer of Latin verse may be found in Lord 
Littleton' 's Life of Henry If, See also Leland, Camden, and 
the Anti-Baillet of Menage. 

V 2 



' 



108 MEMOIRS OF 

whole circle of liberal sciences. O premature 
fate of a scholar, whose loss is ever to be re- 
gretted. Cruel death ! who art least sparing 
of the highest and most transcendent talents! 
— Of what lights, of how much valuable infor- 
mation hast thou deprived posterity. Would 
I were in p;;s-e>sion of the second century of 
Miscellanies; of the Epiphyllidae of this au- 
thor; of his ingenious and learned annotations 
on Suetonius, Terence, Statius, Quintilian, 
and of the rest of his numerous works ; from 
which he might have compiled a century of 
centuries ; how gladly would I publish them 
for the benefit of the studious. But these, I 
am informed, certain persons keep diligently 
concealed at Florence, intending to impose 
them upon the world as their own. Vain pro- 
ject ! — the consequence of which will be, that 
Aldus Manu- y t ] ie y sho^d ever themselves produce any 

tius in Epist. •' . • J 

Nuncup. ad thing worthy or notice, the learned will place 
nSum" open- ll to Politian's account ::— since they are not 
bus Poiuiani ashamed to suppress his works, that they may 
praefixa. adorn themselves with borrowed plumage." 

Some of the observations of Poliiian upon 
the works of classic authors, which Aldus consi- 
dered as lost, have been since brought to light. 
Robert Stevens availed himself, with great 
advantage, of a printed copy containing mar- 
ginal corrections by the hand of Politian, in 
his edition of Cato, Varro, and Columella, 
published, Parisiis, A. 1). K54J. Many simi- 
lar specimens of his critical skill are shewn by 
the ingenious Mr. Koscoe to be still existing 
in the different libraries of Italy; and l>an- 
LifeofLorcn- (li n i j w ho had the good fortune to discover his 
^ voi.il. p'Vo. 1 ' collations on the Pandects of Justinian, in the 

Laurentian library at Florence, has recently 



POLITIAN. 109 

published a particular memoir upon that sub- 
ject. These fruits of Politian s learned la- 
bour, together with those that have already 
occupied our attention, and the less volumi- 
nous pieces (w) contained in the volume of 
his works are honourable and lasting monu- 
ments of his erudition. But his confidence 



(w) The '« Opuscula" of Politian are, I. " Historia 
Conjurationis Pactianae." In this history of the conspiracy 
of the Pazzi, critics have generally agreed that the author 
has evinced himself a very successful imitator of Saliust. 
Though so much commended by man), it is however cen- 
sured by Joan. Mich. Brutus, Hist. Flore// time, Lib. vi. p. 
313. It occurs in none of the ancient collections of Poli- 
tian's works, except that printed by Episcopius Basil. 1553, 
in folio. Mr. Roscoe has given it in the appendix to his 
" Life of Lor. de* Med" vol. i. Append. No. xxi. 

2. " Epicteti Enchiridion e Grseco Interpretatum.** 
When this was finished, Menckenius is at a loss to conjec- 
ture : he probably overlooked an entertaining letter of Pxus 
to Politian, concerning this version, and which proves it to 
be one of its author's earlier productions. (Vide Lib. i. 
Episf Pol. ep. 5. J A letter in defence of the philosophy 
of Epictetus, addressed to Bart. Sca'a, and subjoined to the 
version in question, is dated from Fesulae, 1479. 

3. A translation of the " Problemata of Alexander Aphro- 
diseas." 

4. " Plutarchi Narrationes Amatoriae in Lat. versae." 

5. " Prselectio cui titulus " Lamia." The introductory 
part of this forms an amusing satire upon certain calumnia- 
tors of Politian, who were offended by his having under- 
taken to handle philosophical subjects. 

6. " P.aelectio," cui titulus, " Panepistemon." 

7. * Quod Ira in pueris , optima? saepe indolis est Argu- 
mentum." 

9. " Oratio in expositione Homeri." Thomasius, (in 
Dissert, de Plagio Literario) with others, confidently accuses 
Poiitian of having purloined the remarks contaii.ed in this 
oration from " Plutarchi de Vila, et Poesi Homeri Libellus." 
Menckenius asserts, that notwithstanding the above charge 
has been so currently related by various successive authors, 
the writers of the Diary, entitled " Histoire Critique de la 
Republique des Lettres/' and the Commentator of Rabe?- 



110 MEMOTRS OF 

in his own powers seems to have been un- 
bounded ; and his mind, full of ambition, and 
inflamed with an ardent thirst for literary 
glory. — " 1 have ever been actuated," says he, 
" perhaps without just grounds ; but 1 have 
ever been actuated by a desire of producing 
something that may immortalize me. Riches, 
preferments, power, and pleasure, are trifles 
in my estimation, compared with a name and 
reputation, which shall survive to the latest 
Lib. xii.ep. 6. posterity." 



lais declare, that upon a diligent collation of Politian's Ora- 
tion with the work of Plutarch, the)' are convinced that the 
charge is unjust and groundless. This piece of scandal is 
traced by Menckenius, to Janus Lascaris, the rival and lite- 
rary enemy of Politian. (Vit. Pol. p. 420.J 

9. " Oratio super F. Qumtiliano ; et Statii Sylvis." 

10. " Praefatio in Suetonii Expositionem." 

11. '* Oratio pro Oratoribus Senensium ad Alexandr. 
VI. Pontif. Max/' This was addressed to the pontiff on his 
accession to the papal throne, A. D. 1492. But Bartholo- 
maeus Sothinus, the speaker, through diffidence, or some 
other cause, is said to have lost himself in the recital, and to 
have been obliged to desist abruptly in the middle of the 
address. (Vide Mencken, ut svpra.J 

12. " Pro Oratoribus Florentinorum ad Alphonsum Si- 
cilian Regem Orationes ii." 

13. " Pro Praetore Florentinorum Oratio." 

14. " Alhanasii in Psalmos Opusculum ; Politiano In- 
terprete." 

15. •■ Dialectica, et De Dialectica Praelectio." 
](). " Praefatio in Persium." 

With regard to his labours on the " Pandects of Justi- 
nian," " Grand' onore," (sa)s Foscannh " e' dovuto al Po- 
liziano, die la il primo ad illuminare molte oscufe parti 
dell' erudizione Legale, e, per consequenza, raguno materia 
a coloro die post la vi s' int^ rnarono di Proposiio, cosi par- 
tecipo del la stessa laude il grande amico di lui Ermolao Bar- 
baro, il quale possedendo appieno la scienza delle leggi 
\ conohbc pure il bisogno di accompagnarle colla notizia degli 

usi Romani." (Fuscarini Delia lAtteratura Veneziana, p. 
7 4.) 






POLITIAN. HI 

Far therefore from resting satisfied with 
what he had already atchieved in the arena 
of literature ; he considered his past works 
merely as preludes to others of greater mag- 
nitude. The letters he addressed to Matteo 
Corvino, (^r) king of Hungary ; and Don Ju- 



(x) Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary, was equally 
distinguished for his military talents and his love ot letters. 
During a reign of thirty-six years he wa< constantly occupied 
with some new war. The Holes, Germans, Wallachians, 
and Turks alternately experienced his victorious prowess. 
He carried his arms into Silesia, and enlarged by his con- 
quests the boundaries of his dominions. He expelled the 
Turks, who had seized upon Otranto, from the fooling they 
had gained in Italy. Whilst his warlike achievements thus 
corresponded in brilliancy with those ot the celebrated general 
Joannes Corvinus Hunniades, his father, it was his greater 
glory to evince himself a distinguished patron of the fine 
arts, and of elegant and useful letters. He was himself 
a prince of considerable erudition, well versed in the writ- 
ings of the ancient historians, from whom he derived many 
of his military maxims, and a great portion of his skill in the 
art of war. Like Lorenzo de* Medici, — between whom and 
himself intervened a most amicable interchange of friendly 
offices, particularly with regard to literary affairs, he allured 
to his capital, by great encouragements, persons eminent 
for their learning, or skill in the fine arts, from all countries : 
** quorum consuetudine," says Paulus Jovuts, (in Elogiis) 
" legendo et disputando mirum in modum oblectabatur. 
Quicquid enim otii e gravissimis occupationibus suffurari 
potuit, id totum evolvendis annalibus impendebat ; multus- 
que versabatur in ea bibliotheca quam exquisitis libris, nullo 
deterrente sumptu, refertissimam esse curaverat. Forum 
vero Bvdje prascellentium artificum tabernis exornarat, qui, 
ex Italia praesertim, certis invitati prsemiis Budam conflue- 
bant. Regia enim Budae verse Virtutis domicilium, perpe- 
tuique splendoris hospitale diversorium cunctis gentibus pa- 
tebat : Quandoquidem vincere hostes et scri- 
benda facere et virtutem liberaliter exorna- 
re Regime fortune proprium munus esse du- 
ceret. Invexerat tori provincial Italicas artes, cultum 
domesticum ; Hunnicae gentis mores, ad arma et latrocinia 
natae, ita moiliverat, ut Regnum ex flumbeo aureum, 



112 MEMOIRS OF 

an, king of Portugal ; may be adduced as 
testimonies of the truth of this remark. To 



detersaque rubigine, splendidum reddidisse Pannonii fate- 
rentur." 

Warton in his " Hist. ofEng Poetry," (vol. ii p. 417.) has 
the following remarks applicable to our present subject: 
" Even Hungary, a country by no means uniformly advanced 
with other parts of Europe in the common arts of civilization, 
was (at this period) illuminated with the distant dawning of 
science. Matleo Corvino, king of Hungary and Bohemia, 
in the fifteenth century, and who died in I 4-90, was a lover 
and a guardian of literature. He purchased innumerable 
volumes of Greek and Hebrew writers, at Constantinople 
and other Grecian cities, when they were sacked by the 
Turks : and as the operations of typography were now but 
imperfect, employed at Florence many learned librarians to 
multiply copies of classics, both Greek and Latin, which he 
could not procure in Greece. These, to the number of 
fifty thousand, he placed in a tower which he had erected in 
the metropolis of Buda; and in this library he established 
thirty amanuenses skilled in printing, illuminating, and writ- 
ing ; who under the conduct of Felix Ragusmus, a Dalma- 
tian, consummately learned in the Greek, Chaldaic, and 
Arabic languages, and an elegant designer and painter of 
ornaments on vellum, attended incessantly to the business of 
transcription and decoration." Warton proceeds to observe, 
that the librarian was Bartholomeus Fontius ; but in this, 
his information is not correct, if credit ma) be given to the 
Padre Ireneo A fib, who in his " Me norie di Taddeo Ugo- 
leto of Parma," printed at Parma, 1781, in 4to. proves that 
this office was filled by Ugoleto : of whom see honourable 
mention, '* in Miscelhincis Po/itiani, cap. v. p. 23. 

The fate of this splendid library of king Matthias must 
fill every lover of literature with regret. ' When Buda," 
continues Warton, Cut supra) " was taken by the Turks, in 
the year 1526, Cardinal Bozmanni offered for the redemption 
of this inestimable collection, '200,000 pieces of the Impe- 
rial money ; — yet without effect : for the barbarous besiegers 
defaced or destroyed most of the books in the violence of 
seizing the splendid covers, and the silver bosses and clasps 
with which they were enriched. " The learned Obsoparus 
relates, that a book was brought him by an Hungarian sol- 
\ dier, which he had picked up, with many others, in the 

pillage of king Corvino's library, and had preserved as a 








POLITIAN. 113 

the former, after extolling his magnificence, 

and the splendid actions which had distin- Lib - ix - e P- *• 



prize, merely because the covering retained some marks of 
gold and rich workmanship. This proved to be a manu- 
script of the Ethiopics of Heliodorus ; from which, in the 
year 1534, Obsopaeus printed at Basil the first edition of 
that elegant romance." 

The " Laudes Bellicae Matthias Corvini, Hungarian Re- 
gis," were celebrated in Latin verse, by Alexander Corte- 
sius, one of Politian's pupils, but with powers unequal to 
those of his master. (Vide Carmina Illustrium Poetarum 
Italorum, torn. iii. p. 157, <.t seqq. 8vo. Flor. 17 19. J To 
record the M Jocose et SapienterBicta," and the " Egregie 
Facta" of this monarch, fell to the lot of Galeottus Martius, 
whose history stands connected with that of other scholars of 
this age, and is briefly as follows. He was a native of Narnia, 
and for some time a professor of humanity at Bologna. He 
afterwards taught in private schools in Hungary. He in- 
forms us that he visited the baths of Baden through a desire 
to see the person of Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary, 
and to solicit from his royal bounty marriage-portions for his 
daughters. Matthias admitted him to his intimate friendship, 
made him his secretary, and preceptor to his son, Joannes. 
He also attended the king in his warlike expeditions, in a 
military capacity. He experienced the attacks of Philel- 
phus, but had a more serious antagonist in Merula. " About 
the year 1468, Galeottus wrote his treatise " De Homine;" 
in the first book of which he describes the exterior, in the 
second, the interior parts of man. This work Merula at- 
tacked with great bitterness, and with a considerable display 
of critical sagacity and learning. The commentary of Me- 
rula was printed without date or place, and inscribed to 
Lorenzo and Juliano de' Medici ; perhaps about 1472. (See 
Roscoe's Life of Lor. de' Med. vol. ii. p. 75.) 

Jovius says that Galeottus replied to the attack of Me- 
rula with such spirit, that his apologetic surpassed, in variety 
of learning, the original work. But the ecclesiastical critics, 
sitting in inquisition on his treatise, charged some opinions 
-contained in it with a defect of orthodoxy j and these he 
was obliged publicly to retract. Being led forth to the 
Gemince Columnar, in the market-place of Venice, the place 
appointed for the confession and recantation of his errors, 
Galeottus had the address to alleviate the disagreeableness 
«f his situation, by transferring the attention and ridicule of 

Q 



114 MEMOIRS OF 

tinguished his reign : and testifying his own 
desire, to employ those talents which nature 
had given him in celebrating them : he thus 
proceeds: " Who am I, or what degree of 
eminence I possess among the learned, mo- 
desty induces me to wish your majesty should 
learn from the information of others, rather 
than from myself Suffice it to say, that by 
the kindness and liberality of Lorenzo de' 
Medici, a person distinguished for his super- 
lative talents, and among the warmest admir- 
ers of your virtues, I have been raised from 
an obscure birth, and humble fortune, to the 
degree of rank and distinction I now enjoy ; 
without any other recommendation than my 
literary qualifications. I have for a series of 



the populace to another object. " Nam cum forte non igno- 
bilis Venetus, e tuiba proximus strigosa proceritate, et im- 
pudicae uxoris probro in sign is, traductum ludibno prcepin- 
guem porcum appellasset, extemplo Galeottus, renidentique 
ore, " pinguis" ait, " porcus, quam macer hircus esse malo" 
Erat enim Galeottus usque adeo tumenti abdomine, ut quum 
sub vasto obesi corporis pondere, vel praegrandia jumenta 
fatiscerent, rheda curuli veheretur." ( Vide Jovii Elogia.) 
That his punishment was not more severe, is attributed to 
the protection afforded him by Pope Sixtus, who had once 
been in the number of his pupils ; and his holiness did not 
escape the secret censures of the inquisitors for this his cle- 
mency to a heretic. 

Galeottus had gone into France, upon the invitation of 
Louis XI. and was proceeding to Lyons where the court then 
was, when he unexpectedly met the king at a small distance 
from the city. Through the trepidation and hurry of his 
zeal to pay his respects to the monarch, and his extreme 
corpulency, he fell in attempting to descend from his horse; 
and died in consequence of his fall, in 1478. (Fide Nuvcau 
Dictiotmaire Historique; Jovii Elogia et Galeotti Lihcllum 
tic egregie, sapient cr, jocose dictis et factis M at t hue Ser exist. 
\ Hu/ignriir Regis, fyc, which is printed among the Rervm 

Hungaric, Scriptures, Franco/. 1600, in folio. J 



POLITIAN. 115 

years, publicly taught at Florence, not only 
the Latin language with universal applause, 
but likewise the Greek, with a reputation 
equal to that of the natives of Greece ; which 
I may venture to affirm, has been the case 
with no other of the Italians, for a thousand 
years past. My pen has been employed on a 
variety of subjects ; and, if I may be per- 
mitted the mention of a fact generally known, 
has procured me the commendations of al- 
most all the learned of the age. Thus, pre- 
suming on your royal indulgence, I venture 
to state my pretensions, with a frankness that 
is unusual, and may possibly subject me to 
censure ; but nevertheless with that truth, 
which alone can apologize for my freedom. 
If this tender of my services meet with accep- 
tance, I shall be proud to exert what abilities 
I possess, in any way your wisdom may con- 
descend to prescribe : and with a zeal, which 
I flatter myself, may entitle me to your royal 
favour. Deign then to put my obedience to 
the test, by honouring me with your com- 
mands: or at least condescend to admit of my 
voluntary exertions, on such topics as my 
own fancy may deem most agreeable to you. 
Your majesty is at present engaged in found- 
ing a library, at once magnificent, and richly 
furnished with books : I can, as occasion may 
require, employ my pen in translations from 
the Greek language into the Latin ; or in 
original compositions, which may not prove 
unworthy the attention of men of letters. 
You are erecting a palace of unequalled gran- 
deur : and adorning your capital with statues 
of brass and marble. The most eminent artists 
are continually engaged in supplying you 

q2 



116 MEMOIRS OF 



\ 



with exquisite paintings, and other works of 



art. These, the Muse of Politian can cele- 
brate, if it be your royal pleasure, in numbers 
not unworthy of such subjects. He flatters 
himself he is not unskilled in the art of trans- 
mitting to future ages, the events of your 
majesty's reign, in war or peace, by the well- 
connected page of history : and in the lan- 
guage of Greece or Rome ; in the flowing 
periods of prose ; or the sublime diction of 
immortal song ; of recording your praise to 
the latest posterity." 

His letter to the king of Portugal, is com- 

i . x. ep. . p Qse( j Q f s i m ii ar materials : praise of that mo- 
narch ; and a display of his own powers. He 
requests to be appointed his historiographer ; 
and to be favoured with a transcript of the 
annals of his reign ; composed in any lan- 
guage, and without regard to accuracy of 
style : to serve merely as a basis for his own 
intended work. On this, he promises to erect 
such a superstructure, as shall be able to with- 
stand the vicissitudes of fortune, and the 
waste of ages. The offer of Politian was ac- 
cepted ; and the Portuguese monarch in his 
answer, (y) engages to furnish him with the 

Lib. x, cp. 2. requisite documents as soon as possible. 



(y) John II. king of Portugal, born May 3, 14.05; suc- 
ceeded his father Alphonso V. in 14-81. The brilliancy of 
bis military exploits acquired him the appellation of the 
" Great;" and the rigid impartiality with which he caused 
justice to be administered, procured him the further title of 
the " Perfect/' or as others say, the " Severe." Eager to 
I extend his empire to regions hitherto unexplored, he fitted 

i out fleets of discovery ; and these enterprizes were crowned 

with signal success : so that under his auspice*, various Por- 
tuguese colonics were founded on distant shores. In his 



P0L1TIAST. 117 

Politian could not, however, escape the 
censures of perverse or invidious critics, (z) 
By some he was accused of plagiarism. Others, Lib.iii.ep.i4. 
while they were constrained to acknowledge 
his erudition, found fault with his style ; and 
termed him a " mere solder er of obsolete 
words." {a) To the latter charge, Politian 



letter to Politian, he is styled " Joannes Dei Gratia Rex 
Portugalliae et Algarbiorum citra et ultra mare in Africa, 
Dominusque Guinea?." 

It is recorded of this prince, that he one day said to an 
indolent and avaricious judge, " I know that you keep your 
hands open, and your doors shut : look well to yourself." 
Having been deprived by death of his only son, whom he 
tenderly loved, " It is my consolation," said he, " that hea- 
ven, in depriving me of him, evinces its care for the happi- 
ness of my people ; since he was not qualified to govern." 
The young prince had, it seems, been too much addicted to 
gallantry and dissipation. This monarch died October 25, 
1495, aged 41. 

It was in allusion to John II. says Manuel de Faria y 
Sousa, the Portuguese historian, that one of our own coun- 
trymen told Henry VII. " the most extraordinary sight he 
had seen in Portugal, was, a prince who governed every- 
body, and whom nobody governed." He never suffered 
either minister or favourite to gain the ascendancy over him. 
He was a wise prince ; and such consideration had he for 
his subjects, that when it was proposed to him to lay any 
new burthen upon them, tf let us see first," he would say, 
"whether it be necessary to raise money:" and this point 
ascertained; " now," would the good monarch continue, 
'Met us see what are our superfluous expences." (Vide 
Noveau Diet. Histor. Manuel de Faria y Sousa, Historic 
del Rej/no de Portugal. En Amberes, 1730, in fol. fyc. 

(z) See his controversy with Merula. (Inter Epist, 
Volitiani.) 

(a) et Et lu mihi, superioribus diebus aperte dixisti : et 
abs te auditum multi retulerunt : non placere genus scri- 
bendi meum : propterea quod ascita nimium verba et remota 
consector. Me quoque esse quendam, sic enim soletis di- 
cere Ferruminatokem : vox enim haec apud te significare 



ne 



MEMOIRS OF 



i 






answers in general, " I have never ventured 
to introduce into my compositions any terms" 

" Cinctutis non exaudita Cethegis:" 

" nor do I follow any, but the best authori- 
ties. But I am not one of those, who would 
suffer the Latin language to sink, in a great 
measure, into oblivion, through a silly fear 
of employing any word, or form of expression, 
Lib. m.ep. 15. which has not hitherto been in general use." 
To Bartholemasus JScala (b) in particular, he 
replies : " Si quae cuique obvia sint, ea tantum 
noster sermo recipiat : nulla magis quam ta- 
bellionum lingua utemur :" alluding sarcas- 
tically to Scala's office of secretary to the re- 
public. 

The inquisitive reader will be much grati- 
fied with the perusal of the original letters of 
these learned disputants : and not less with 
those of a more friendly description, which 
passed between Politian, and Paul us Corte- 
sius. Politian, on this occasion, expresses 
his dislike of servile imitation, and asserts his 
own claim to the merit of originality, in terms 
to the following elfect. " 1 hear you approve 



Lib. v. ep. 1. 



Lib, viii. ep 
16. 




jamdiu ccepit eum, qui verbis istis paulo minus vulgatis 
uteretur." (Epist. Pol. Bart. Scalce. Lib. v. cp. 2.) 

(b) The letters that passed between Politian and Bar- 
tbolemseus Scala, are replete with wit, and with invective. 
For an outline of this controversy, as well as of that which 
took place between Politian ami Merula, the reader is refer- 
red to Mr. Roscoe's M Life of Lorenzo de* Medici." Poli- 
tian's controversy with Merula was interrupted by the death 
of the latter. Jn allusion to this event, Politian in one of 
his letters thus expresses himself. " Peiierat Merula, cisi 
pcriisset." (Lib. vi. cp. 3. J 






POLITIAN. t\9 

of no style of composition, the language and 
periods of which are not perfectly Ciceronian : 
(nisi qui liniamenta Ciceronis effingat.) For 
my own part, I find the countenance of a bull, 
or a Hon, infinitely less contemptible than 
that of an ape : though the latter has more 
resemblance of the human species. Even of 
those authors who rank highest for eloquence, 
each has a style peculiar to himself, as Seneca 
remarks. Quintilian indulges a very just 
pleasantry, at the expence of certain persons, 
who fancied themselves nearly related to Ci- 
cero, because they had contrived to round a 
period with the words, "esse videatur." You 
know how Horace exclaims against the servile 
herd of imitators. In my estimation, they 
resemble parrots, or daws, that are taught to 
articulate words, of which thev know not the 
meaning. The compositions of such persons, 
are without animation, or energy : and display 
neither feeling nor genius : they are replete 
with dulness and insipidity : as void of mean- 
ing as they are destitute of true taste. (c Your 
style is not that of Cicero," it may be said. — 
" Perhaps not ; nor am I Cicero: — but I ap- 
prehend my style is my own." 

It is, however, worthy of remark, that in 
opposition to what Paulus Jovius terms the 
harsh and unclassical diction of the scholars 
of this age, resulting from the pride of origi- 
nality, Naugerius, Bembus, and many of 
their contemporaries, in succeeding times, were 
not ashamed to class themselves amongst the 
imitators of Cicero, in their prose writings : 
a master, adds Jovius, whom Politian and 
Hermolaus Barbarus contemned : while con- 
scious of the extent of their own erudition 






120 MEMOIRS OF 

and powers, they thought it more honourable 
to form a style of their own, than to cramp 
and fetter their genius by servile imitation. 
Indeed, adds he, their opinion was, that the 
real lineaments and character of genius can 
never be justly expressed in the language of 
another. " Magno tunc quidem probro erat 
doctis, ridendis pares simiis videri :" To be 
charged with assuming the ridiculous charac- 
ter of apes, the learned of those days dreaded 
as the greatest disgrace. 

That Politian had occasionally, (c) eccle- 
siastical duties of an active nature to dis- 
Lib.ii. ep. 2. charge, appears from his own account. He 
accuses himself of a natural propensity to in- 
ibid. dolence. He also laments the misapplication 
of much of his time, which he was compelled 
to bestow on trifles : and in satisfying the 
petty requests of the impertinent and obtru- 
sive. " Does any want a motto for the hilt 
of his sword : or a posy for a ring : a memento 



(c) Politian's being said to have boasted, that he never 
read the scriptures but once, is a calumny refuted by the 
express testimony of Politian himself, in one of his letters, 
" sese quadragesimali tempore publico populo sacras literas 
enarrasse" — a remark from Vigneul Marville. See Jortin's 
notes to the Life of Erasmus, vol. i. p. 82. Politian's words 
are, ** Cum per hos quadragesimal proximos dies enarrandis 
populo sacris Uteris essem occupatus." (Lib. iv. ep. 10. ) 
He also translated " S. Athanasii in Psalmos Opusculum." 
(Vide oper. ejus.) Baillet seems hastily to rank him among 
the advocates of infidelity, upon the authority of vague and 
ill-founded reports. (P refuges des Auteurs, ct alibi.) Who 
will lightly credit the story, that the intimate friend and 
associate of Joannes Picus of Mirandula, was an infidel, or 
hostile to the study of the scriptures ? 



POLITIAN. 121 

for his bed-chamber : (//) or a device for his 
silver vessels, or even his earthen-ware : — all 
run to Politian : so that there is scarcely a 
wall, which I have not, like a snail, besmear- 
ed with the effusions of my brain. One teazes 
me for catches and glees for a bacchanalian 
party : another, for a grave discourse, adapted 
to some particular solemnity : a third, wants a 
lamentable ditty for a serenade : and a fourth 
a licentious ballad for a carnival. This fool 
tells me his love-perplexities, which I sit like 
a fool to hear. Another wishes for a symbol, 
which, while it is perfectly intelligible to his 
mistress, may serve only to perplex the curi- 
osity of others, (e) I pass by the unseasonable 
garrulity of pedants : the impertinences of 
poetasters, who are in the constant habit of 
admiring their own productions. These are 
the plagues I am daily compelled to endure : 



(d) Politian's motto for his own bed-chamber, is pre- 
served among his poems. 

In poste cubiculi sui 
Blanda quies habitet — duri procul este labores. 

He composed the following for Julius Salviatus. 

Pectoris interpres — genii domus — hospita curis, 

Cellula sum domini conscia deliciis. 
Hie faciet te Juno patrem, Cytherea maritum, 
Libertas regem, semideumque Sopor. 

(e) " Given eare-rings we will weare, 
Bracelets of our lovers haire, 
Which they on our armes shall twist, 
With their names carv'd on our wrist. 
All the money that wee owe, 
Wee in tokens will bestow ; 
And learne to write, that when 'tis sent, 
Onely our loves know what is meant." 
Cupid's Revenge by Beaumont and Fletcher, old 4to. edition, 
R 



122 ' MEMOIRS OF 

besides the interruptions I meet with, in my 
walks abroad, from the lower class of the 
inhabitants of this city, and its vicinity : who 
drag me through the streets, on their con- 
cerns, like an ox by the nose. " 

If we may credit Politian's account of 
himself, it at least evinces good-nature and 
urbanity of temper, on his part ; ill according 
with those stories, which charge him with a 
peevishness of disposition, (f) that corre- 
sponded with his personal deformities. The 
internal evidence of his letters tends to prove, 
that he was naturally inclined to facetiousness 
and pleasantry : and capable of malignant 
irascibility, only when his literary talents and 
reputation were called in question. A vein of 
humour pervades the greater part of his epis- 
tolary correspondence : and it seems improba- 
ble that he would chuse to assume a character, 
in his familiar writings, which his personal 
behaviour did not in some measure support. 

Still more serious charges have been al- 
ledged against the purity of his morals : but 



(f) " Distortis erat moribus : facie nequaquam ingenua 
et liberali : cum naso enormi, et oculo sublustro. (Pauli 
Freheri Theatrum ex Elogiis Pauli Jovii deswnpt. Vide 
etiam E'togia P. Join. 

Politian admits the charge of deformity with regard to his 
person in the Hendecasyllables, entitled, " in Mabilium 
Responsum :" but makes an ingenious, though not very deli- 
cate use of these defects to coniound his literary opponent. 

" Quod nasum milii, quod reflexa colla 
Demcns objicis : esse utrumque nostrum 
I Asscrtor veniam vol ipse; nam me 

> Nil nasutius est sagaciusve, 

In te dum liceat vibrare nasum, &c." 



] 



POLITIAN. 123 

these are, for the most part, allowed to rest 

on the very questionable authority of Paulus 

Jovius : of whom it is said, that prejudice, 

resentment, or interest generally guided his 

pen. Politian has found able advocates in 

Pierius Valerian us, Barthius, and Mr. Roscoe. ut^ST 

It must be acknowledged that the youthful Advswario- ' 

muse of Politian, did not always adhere 'ta™!^.^ 

the strictness of decorum: a fault too com Roseoe'sLife 

mon amongst the poetical writers of his age. M^d°ia" Z ° dG ' 

A few of his Greek epigrams, as well as of 

his Latin verses, are very exceptionable. In 

one of his letters to Picus of Mirandula, he Lib. i. e P .7. 

says, " Audio te versiculos amatorios quos 

olim scripseras combussisse, veritum fortasse 

ne vel tuo jam nomini, vel aliorum moribus 

officerent." It had been well, if not only Lib.i. ep.7. 

Politian, but Pontanus, Sannazarius, and 

others, had by similar sacrifices, testified an 

equal solicitude for their own characters, and 

the morals of posterity. 

The Letters so frequently referred to in 
the preceding pages, and which greatly con- 
tribute to illustrate the life and literary labours 
of Politian, yet remain to be more particularly 
noticed. They were collected, and arranged 
for the press by Politian himself, a very short 
time before his death, at the particular request 
of Piero, the son and successor of Lorenzo : . 
as we learn from that which serves as proem 
and dedication. 

Angtlus Politianus to Petrus Medices. u\>.\. ep. 1. 

14 You, my noble friend, have frequently 
urged me to collect my letters and arrange 

R 2 



124 MEMO I TiS OF 

them for publication. This I have now done, 
willing to evince my entire obedience to him 
ill whom all my fortunes and my hopes are 
centered. Not that I pretend to have col- 
lected all : it would be an easier task to gather 
the scattered leaves of the Sybil. Far indeed, 
from being composed with a view to such an 
arrangement, they were merely occasional pro- 
ductions, on topics not sought after, or stu- 
died, but presented by accident : consequently 
I preserved copies of a part only ; those per- 
haps least worth preserving : and even they 
have long been contending with dust and 
insects. To complete the volume therefore, 
I have inserted some letters with which I have 
been favoured by my friends ; selecting those 
of men of learning only : and hope they may 
serve to compensate for the dulness and insipi- 
dity of my own. 

I acknowledge the style of my letters is 
very unequal ; for which I expect not to 
escape reprehension. But let it be remem- 
bered that the writer was not always in the 
same humour ; and that one mode of writing- 
is by no means suited to every person, and 
every subject. On perusing letters so dissi- 
milar, (should any person think them worth 
perusal) it will probably be said that Politian 
has again been writing " Miscellanies," and 
not letters. However, amonff so many dis- 
cordant opinions of those who write, or who 
give rules for writing letters, I do not despair 
of finding an apology. One will say, for in- 
stance, " these letters are very unlike Cice- 
ro's." I shall answer, not without good au- 
thority, that Cicero is not to be regarded 
^ as a proper model in epistolary composition. 



POLITIAN. 125 

Another will pronounce me the mere echo of 
Cicero. To him I shall reply, — that I feel 
myself highly gratified in being deemed able 
to express even a faint resemblance of such an 
original. A third could wish I had adopted 
the manner of Pliny the orator, whose taste 
and judgment are so highly spoken of. — My 
answer will be, I entertain a thorough con- 
tempt for all the writers of Pliny's age. Does 
my style, in the opinion of a fourth, savour 
strongly of that very author ? I shelter my- 
self under the authority of Sidonius Apollina- 
ris, an authority by no means to be con- 
temned, who assigns to Pliny the palm in 
letter-writing. Is it discovered that I resemble 
Symmachus ? I blush not to imitate one 
whose brevity and frankness are admired. Am 
I thought unlike him ? It is because I object 
to his dryness. Some of my letters will per- 
haps be pronounced too long. Plato wrote 
long letters : so did Aristotle, Thucydides, 
Cicero. Others, on the contrary, are too 
short. Here I shall plead the examples of 
Dion, Brutus, Apollonius, Marcus Antoni- 
nus, Philostratus, Alciphron, Julian, Liba- 
nius, Symmachus : and moreover of Lucian, 
who is commonly, but falsely supposed to have 
been Phalaris. I may perhaps be censured for 
the choice of subjects ill adapted to an epis- 
tolary style. — I plead guilty to the charge, 
provided Seneca be included. Is my short, 
sententious manner disapproved of? — I shall 
appeal again to Seneca. Am I not sufficiently 
abrupt and sententious ? — Let Dionysius speak 
for me, who argues for a looser form in epis- 
tolary composition. Is my diction too plain ? 
— Philostratus recommends plainness. Is it 



126 MEMOIRS OF 

thought too obscure ? — Cicero is obscure in 
his letters to Atticus. Is it found negligent? 
— A graceful negligence is the most pleasing- 
ornament of a letter. But it is too exact. — 
How then ! on letters which are designed as 
presents to our friends, — is it possible that too 
much care and pains can be bestowed ! Is 
there an appearance of too great nicety of 
arrangement? — 1 shall be vindicated by the 
Halicarnassian. No arrangement at all? — 
Artemon must defend me. 

As the Latin language has moreover what 
may be termed its " atticisms ;" if my lan- 
guage is deemed not sufficiently attic — so 
much the better : for what was Herod the 
sophist censured ? — but that being born an 
Athenian, he affected to shew it too much 
by his language. — But do I u atticise'' too 
much? — Let me urge the example of Theo- 
phrastus ; in whom, though no Athenian, an 
old woman could detect this foible. In fine, 
is my manner thought too serious? — I am 
pleased with gravity : not grave enough ? — I 
love to indulge in sportive flights of fancy. 
Is my language too figurative? — As letters 
approach very nearly to conversation, figures 
are to them, what graceful action is to the 
latter. Is it destitute of figures ? — This want 
of figures is precisely what characterizes a 
letter. Does the letter betray the genius or 
character of the writer? — This openness is 
recommended. Does it conceal them ? — It is 
because a composition of this nature should be 
without ostentation. Has the whole an ap- 
pearance of roundness in its finishing? — This 
is the Grecian manner. Is it without that 
\ Jcind of polish?— Philostratus would have it 



POLITIAN. 127 

so. Loose and unconnected ? — Aquila ap- 
proves this. Has it measure and nerve? — 
— Quintilian professes himself pleased. Is it 
not sufficiently dramatic ? — A letter is not a 
dialogue. Too dramatic ? — It is in its nature 
as nearly allied to dialogue as possible. But 
you express yourself, on common topics in 
common terms, and on new topics in new 
terms. — Then my language is exactly adapted 
to the subject. Nay, — but you express new 
ideas in common terms, and common ideas in 
new. — Very right, it is because I am mindful 
of the old Greek proverb that precisely re- 
commends this. 

Thus I hope still to provide myself with a 
subterfuge against the malice of critics. But 
to their censures I am comparatively indiffer- 
ent : secure as I am of your approbation, for 
my letters, if good ones; — if otherwise, for 
my obedience. Adieu." 

The numerous Correspondents of Politi- 
an form a constellation of learned men, whose 
histories, as intimately connected with that of 
the revival of letters, are deserving of more 
minute research than has, perhaps, hitherto 
been bestowed upon them. Many of these, 
as well as other scholars of the age, occur 
under disguised or academical appellations. 
At the revival of letters, the enthusiastic at- 
tachment excited in the breasts of scholars, 
to the ancients and their productions, was 
carried to such an excess, that to assume their 
names was considered, in some measure, as a 
means of increasing that emulation which was 
necessary to the acquisition of a portion of 
their genius and spirit. Hence originated 



128 



MEMOIRS OF 



academical associations of a new kind, which 
had their commencement in the pontificate of 
Paul II. at Rome; (unless it is rather to be 
referred to the institution of Alfonso I. king 
of Naples, over which Antonius Panormita, 
and afterwards, Jovianus Pontanus presided) 
and were from thence extended to other cities 
of Italy. These academicians are said to have 
pleaded the example of some of the Monas- 
tics, each of whom at the gate of the clois- 
ter, renounced the name by which he had 
been distinguished in the world, for that of 
some saint of the church, whom he intended 
to make the particular object of his imitation ! 
This practice of assuming classical appella- 
tions, was not, as M. Baillet observes, entirely 
discontinued by these learned societies, till 
after the pontificate of Clement VII. when 
the Italian academicians began to adopt dis- 
tinctions of a different, and more modern 
complexion. 

One of the earliest academies that affected 
these classical distinctions, instituted at Rome, 
as was before observed, probably had its ordi- 
nary and extraordinary members: who, ac- 
cording to Vossius, caused the following words 
to be* inscribed on the house set apart for their 
reception : 

" POMPONII LJETI ET SODALITATIS ESCVLINAI." 

An interesting letter of Pomponius (g) to Po- 
litian, characteristic of the manners and stu- 
dies of the former, may not, perhaps, appear 
unworthy of a place in this volume. 

(g) Pomponius L/Etus was born in 1425, at Amen- 
darola, a small town of upper Calabria; whence he is called 
by Baillet, Peter of Calabria j but M. de la Monnoye says 



POLITIAN. 129 



Pomponius Lcetus to Angelas Politianus. 



" It is time, most learned and ingenious 
of the Italians, that you should fulfil your 
promise of returning my Lucretius. Permit 



his real christian name was Julius. He was the illegitimate 
son of a prince of Salerno, of the house of Sanseverino. 
Though even under these circumstances, his birth would 
have reflected on him no disgrace ; yet he was of a temper 
so singular, that he always strove to conceal his origin. He 
is said to have repressed the importunities of his friends, who 
solicited him to acknowledge and associate with them, by 
the following laconic epistle : " Pomponius Lsetus, cognatis 
et propinquis suis. Quod petitis fieri non potest, valete." 

He studied at Rome, under Laurentius Valla, who dying 
A. D. 1457, Pomponius was by common consent appointed 
his successor. Some years after this, being accused as one 
of the leaders of a pretended conspiracy of literary men, 
against Paul II. ; he was pursued by order of the Pope to 
Venice whither he had retired, brought back to Rome in 
chains, and there thrown into prison, with other men of 
learning, amongst whom was Platina, who relates the trans- 
action in his life of Paul II. He was at length liberated, 
and permitted to resume his chair of professor, which he 
occupied till his death. This happened in the pontificate of 
Alexander VI. previously to the year 1500. 

Such, it is said, was his enthusiastic predilection for 
antiquity, that he greatly regretted it was not his lot to exist 
in the days of Roman splendour, and in the purest ages of 
latinity. He had an insatiable passion for the collection of 
manuscripts, medals, &c. and the discovery of any ancient 
inscription, or monumental fragment, that reminded him of 
those favourite times, affected him with the most lively sen- 
sibility. We are told, he cherished for the memory of Ro- 
mulus a kind of religious veneration ; and annually solem- 
nized the day of the foundation of Rome. This occasioned 
him to be suspected and accused of paganism. But it is 
pretended his intentions were misinterpreted, forasmuch as 
this was done, merely with a view to awaken in the breasts 
of his scholars, a higher respect for the ancients, and a more 
ardent zeal for the study of their literary productions. Paulus 



' 



130 MEMOIRS OF 

Petreius to be the bearer of it. He is a person 
in whose integrity I can fully confide ; and 



Cortesius relates a repartee of Pomponius, to Domrtius Cal- 
derinus: " cum ei Domitius Calderinus, homo inimicus 
dixisset, num ex animi sententia crederet esse Deum ? 
Quidni inquit esse credam, cam ei nihil te odiosius esse 
putem." And indeed in some of his works he is said to have 
given proofs of his attachment to the christian religion, and 
respect for the holy see. 

It was with the like view of promoting and extending 
an ardour for the study of the ancients, that he invited the 
academicians, his friends, to adopt the appellations of Greece 
and Rome, in testimony of their devotion to the pursuit of 
classic literature. " Rogatus Pomponius (scilicet a Judici- 
bus," says Platina, de vita Pauli II.) '* cur nomina adoles- 
centibus immutaret ? ut homo liber erat, " Quid ad vos, in- 
quit, et Paulum, si mihi fceniculi nomen indo ; modo id 
sine dolo et fraude fiat t" Amore namque vetustatis anti- 
quorum praeclara nomina repetebat, quasi quaedam calcaria, 
quae nostram Juventutem aemulatione ad virtutem incitarent." 
The pleasantry of this reply, says M. de la Monnoye (notes 
to Bail/et. — Deguisemens des Auteurs, p. S9J will not be so 
obvious, unless it be recollected, first, that the examination 
of Pomponius, parsed in the Italian language ; secondly, 
that the Italian word " popone," signifies a melon ; and 
" finocchio," fennel, both which Italy produces in singular 
abundance. As if he had said, it could be of no conse- 
quence either to the Pope or his judges, whether he called 
himself ".Finocchio" or "Pomponio," provided his intention 
was innocent : alluding by a kind of equivoque, by " Pom- 
ponio," to the word " popone." 

This person is termed Julius Pomponius Sabinus, in the 
title to a commentary on Virgil, attributed to him; but 
which he was desirous to disavow : and Julius Pomponius 
Fortunatus, in that of his notes on the tenth book of Colu- 
mella. In a letter, written by one of his contemporaries, 
he is styled " Pomponius Laetus Fortunatus, togatorum erudi- 
tissimus." (See de la Monnoye.) Politian, in the 44-th. chap- 
ter of his " Miscellanea," terms him " Roman a? Princeps 
Academioe :" an honour apparently attributed to him by 
universal consent. Thus Michael Fern us, who superintended 
an edition of the works of Joan. Ant. Campanus, A. D. 
k J 495, is cited by M. de la Monnoye, as therein addressing 

a letter to Pomponius, under the following title : " Dictator! 



POLITIAN. 131 

with the rest of our society, a warm and re- 
spectful admirer of your high literary charac- 



Perpetuo : lmperatori nostro maximo : Pomponio Lasto." — 
Prefixed to the first printed edition of Lucan ( Romce, 1469,/;* 
Jol.J is a life of that poet, by Pomponius, who is there sur- 
named Infortunatus, '« Lucani Vita per Pomponium Infortu- 
natum," it is supposed on account of the temporary disgrace 
and trouble, in v\ hich he was involved by the Pope's dis- 
pleasure. 

He is suspected of having intended to impose some of 
his own productions on the public as works of antiquity. It is 
even affirmed that several eminent modern scholars have con- 
sidered and cited him as a grammarian of one of the middle 
ages : amongst whom are mentioned Petr. Pithaeus, and 
Justus Lipsius: and more recently M. Vaillant, in one of 
his works on medals, places him in the list of ancient authors. 
Many of the works of Pomponius, it is said, were lost in a 
public tumult that happened at Rome, in the pontificate of 
Sixtus IV. 

Pomponius was of a frank and ingenuous disposition, and 
extremely placable with regard to his literary opponents : 
" si pauvre au reste" (to quote the words of M. de la Mon- 
noye) " que s'll eut perdu deux oeufs, dit en riant son ami 
Plat'ne lib. ix. de son traUe de cuisine, il n'auroit pas eu de 
quoi en racheter deux autres." Though labouring under a 
natural impediment in his speech, Cortesius says, that during 
his forty years' practice of delivering public lectures at Rome, 
he so far overcame it, as to express himself in a graceful 
and impressive manner, as well as with ease and fluency. 
Hermolaus Barbarus, and Pomponius Laetus, though of dis- 
similar tempers, lived on terms of strict intimacy : and we 
are informed, that the sombre and gloomy reservedness of 
the former was often agreeably dissipated by the facetious 
gaiety of the latter ; in whom the character of hilarity was so 
predominant, that it is conjectured the surname of " Laetus" 
might have some reference to his disposition. 

Concerning this remarkable scholar, Apostolo Zeno, (in 
Dissert at ionibus Vossianis) supplies us with some additional 
information. He observes, that the anger of Paul II. was 
particularly excited against Pomponius, because in a letter 
to Platina, he had termed him «« patrem sanctissimum ;" 
a title probably given, as well out of respect to his advanced 
age, as his ecclesiastical dignity. Paul sternly upbraided 
Platina on his examination with this circumstance. " Te,-* 
S % 

/ 



132 MEMOIRS OF 

ter. Who that attributes to himself discern- 
ment can refrain from congratulating our age, 



inquit," pontificem creaverunt conjurati omnes." It appears 
that Pomponius during his absence from Rome, found an 
asylum at Venice, in " casa Cornara," in which he resided 
three years. (Diss. Vuss. torn. ii. p. 23 4. J 

He was a particular advocate for purity and simplicity 
of Latin style. He had imbibed the singular fancy that the 
ancients practised the art of printing ; and that after it had 
been lost for many ages, the moderns were entitled only to 
the credit of restoring it. It is said that he founded this 
notion on a passage of St. Cyprian, ill understood : " Satur- 
nus Litteras imprimere et signare nummos in Italia primus 
instituit." The celebrated Conrad Peutinger of Augusta, 
one of the restorers of learning in Germany, was a scholar 
of Pomponius ; as was Alessandro Farnese, afterwards Pope 
Paul III. Lndov.Vives, says Vossius, laughs at Pomponius for 
consuming so much of his time and application in enquiring 
into the meaning of certain words, and points of history ; 
and in the examination of fragments of antiquities and ruined 
monuments dug out of the earth. But, says Apostolo Zeno, 
the learned are in reality infinitely indebted to our early 
Italian scholars, who were the first to tread this track, by 
collecting and explaining ancient inscriptions, from which 
literature has received so great advantage. Pomponius was 
himself certainly an active cultivator of these studies, and 
strongly recommended them to his scholars. The house 
which he possessed " sul Quirinale" (now termed " il Monte 
Cavallo") was entirely ornamented with ancient remains 
collected by him ; " era tutta ornata di lapide da lui rac- 
colte :" and became, as it were, the museum of the academy 
over which he presided. 

The story of his having wished to impose upon the public 
credulity, by forging some inscriptions which he passed off as 
ancient, is not denied by Apostolo Zeno ; who quotes the 
testimony of Antonio Agostini in his eleventh dialogue, in 
proof of it. Agostini particularly mentions, " un Testa- 
mento, fin to in molte parte con gran judicio," commencing 
thus: — "Dei optimi maximi numine invocato, &c. Ha?c 
est L. Cuspidii dispositio, &c. :" but it is added, he therein 
makes mention of a son of his own, and says to him, " Vix- 
I isses, Laete, filimi; fili mi vixisses :" whence he is disco- 

, vered to be the author. Agostini, however, says, that he 

has found this forged testament, printed in more than one 



POLITIAN. 133 

on the possession of such men as you ; in 
whom our forefathers would have gloried ? 
He is eagerly preparing for his journey to 
Florence ; in hope of frequently seeing you, 
and profiting hy your instructions. Would I 
could accompany him ! When I consider the 



collection ; and that by many it is deemed of genuine anti- 
quity. An epitaph also upon the poet Claudian, printed by 
Mazochio s< nelia raccolta delle inserizioni di Roma a. c. 
viii." is supposed to be a forgery by Pomponius. (Diss. 
Voss. ut supr. p. 240, SfC.) 

A report having gone forth of the decease of Pomponius 
before it actually happened, Girolamo Bologni, " Citfadino 
Trivigiano, e Poeta Laureato," composed an epitaph upon 
him ; and sent it to his friend Bartolommeo Partenio, then at 
Rome. By the answer of Partenio, it appears that he com- 
municated this epitaph to Hermolaus Barbarus, who was 
also then resident in that city. These scholars hesitated some 
time whether they should shew it to Pomponius ; but at 
length resolved so to do. When Pomponius saw the epi- 
taph, with much laughter, and many exclamations, he de- 
clared, " se gratias Diis agere et autori — quod ea qua? post 
mortem observari vetita sint, in humanis ipse legere valeret :** 
and wrote with his own hand a laconic epistle of thanks to 
the author. Apostolo Zeno says, that Pomponius survived 
till the year 14-97, and that he died May 21 in that year, at 
about the age of seventy, at Rome ; where he was interred, 
" nella Chiesa di San Salvatore in Lauro" Domico Palladio 
wrote an epitaph upon Pomponius, which occurs before his 
" Romanae Historiae Compendium," printed in the collec- 
tion of the " Historiae Augustas Scriptores." 

Hie jacet exigua. L^tus Pomponius urna, 
Cujus honos merito pulsat utrunque polum. 

Laetus erat Romae, vates sublimis; et idem, 
Rhetor nunc campis laetior Elysiis. 

Pomponius, who was married, had two daughters : Fuk 
via Laeta, and Melantho Laeta; both celebrated for their 
classical attainments, and other accomplishments : whose 
" Elogia" may be found in the " Icones Varice" o£Joa?i. Jac. 
Boissard. See also " Jugemens des Savans." torn. 2, prem. 
part, p. 388. Amst. 1725, 12mo. 



13£ MEMOIRS OF 

sublimity of your genius, I cannot help won- 
i denng that the studious of our city do not 

flock, if I may so speak ' ' graculatim et stur- 
natim," like so many daws or starlings to 
attend you. I have perused your work, in 
which you seem, by your uncommon erudi- 
tion, actually to have recalled the ancients 
from the shades. But enough ; you stand in 
no need of my suffrage ; the work is sufficient 
to establish your fame. When any question 
of importance occurs, Politian alone seems 
adequate to the solution. Of your talents 
and perspicacity I have already expressed the 
high opinion I entertain, in one letter, and 
that a long one : but how can one descant at 
sufficient length on such a subject. I presume 
you have delayed to return my Lucretius, in 
consequence of the variety of your studies and 
avocations. Restore him, I beseech and con- 
jure you; " ad suum Quirinum redeat." I 
am in possession of some monuments of very 
great antiquity, the sight of which, would 
excite your astonishment and admiration. 
Happily rescued from the rubbish that con- 
cealed them, and restored to light ; they would 
be doubly so by your notice and attention ; 
for in these matters I recognise in you a kind 
of divinity ; and your judgment is the true 
Promethean fire. Romie. ante v. Cal. Jun. 

Lib. i. ep. 17. " Those monuments of antiquity you speak 
of," says Politian in his reply, " how I long 
to handle, to embrace, to worship ! If you 
possess any thing excellent in this way, I ad- 

ibid.cp. is. j lire y° u by fortune, impart it to us." In 
Fcesulano, vi. Id. Aug. 1491- 






POLITIAN. 1S5 

In these times, the ardour so recently en- 
kindled, and so generally, prevalent, to be- 
come acquainted with the languages of Greece 
and Rome, and to acquire a critical knowledge 
of those works justly esteemed the true models 
of perfection in every species of composition, 
was not confined to the male sex only. Even 
women were found to participate in the gene- 
ral emulation, and to vie with professors 
themselves in literary attainments. Two of 
these ladies, contemporaries with Politian, 
deserve, and have obtained from the pen of 
Mr. Roscoe, particular mention : Cassandra ^ e A °^ L ° r - 
Fidelis, (/*) a Venetian lady, and Alessandra, 
daughter of Bartholomasus Scala. With re- 



de' Medici. 



(h) The family of the Fedeli were originally of Milan. 
Cas-sandra is supposed to have been born circa 1465. She 
was early instructed in the Greek and Latin languages, 
elocution, and the aristotelic philosophy ; which she evinced 
peculiar eagerness to attain. She maintained a literary cor- 
respondence with many of the learned of her age. Pam- 
philus Saxus has consecrated several of his poetical effusions 
to her praise. She is said to have been of morals pure and 
unblemished, great frankness of disposition, and an engaging 
modesty, and of a cheerfulness which occasionally rose to 
gaiety. Politian contrasts her with his friend Picus ; con- 
sidering her no less a prodigy amongst her sex, than he was 
amongst his. So greatly was he struck with her character 
and reputation, that he visited Venice almost solely with a 
view to see and converse with her. Not only men of learn- 
ing, but princes, and persons of the most elevated rank of 
both sexes, vied in paying her marks of their respect, and 
were willing by great offers to induce her to visit and settle 
in their courts. 

In the year 14-S7, Cassandra delivered a public oration 
before the university of Padua " pro Alberto Lamberto Ca- 
nonico Concordiensi, consanguineo suo, philosophise insig- 
nia suscipiente ;" which is yet extant. Some suppose her to 
have been in the practice of delivering public lectures in 
that university ; but this is doubted by her biographer, 
Cassandra had onqe the honour of addressing a complimen- 



136 MEMOIRS OF 

spect to the former, the following letter of 
Politian will perhaps be no unacceptable ad- 



tary oration to " Bona Fortia, Sarmatorum Regina," when 
visiting Venice, which was delivered in the Bucentauro, 
sent out with a suitable train and magnificence to meet and 
escort her into the Venetian port ; on which occasion the 
queen taking from the bosom of one of her ladies of honour, 
a magnificent gold-chain presented it to the fair speaker. 
The latter, consistently with that philosophic indifference 
which she had always evinced for this precious metal, the 
next day gave it into the hands of the doge. 

Cassandra, as it may be imagined, had various suitors. 
The will of her father induced her to accept as a husband 
Jo. Maria Mapellius of Vicenza, (Vicentinus) a learned man, 
and a physician, in her connection with whom, she expe- 
rienced various reverses of fortune. Attending her husband 
who passed some time in the isle of Candia (olim Crete) and 
perhaps in the city of Retimo, as public physician ; she is 
said to have taken great pains to enquire after, visit, and 
examine such remains of antiquity as the island possessed. 
This learned lady became a widow in the year 1521. She 
addressed a letter to Pope Leo X. in which lamenting the 
death of her husband, she solicited his protection and pa- 
tronage. 

Cassandra had composed a work, " De Scientiarum 
Ordine," of which frequent mention occurs in her letters ; 
but it was never published. 

In her ninetieth year she was appointed to preside over a 
religious society of her own sex, at Venice. (Sacrarum 
Virginum Xenodochio S. Dominici Venetiis a majoribus prae- 
ficitur.) She" survived to a very advanced age, and on her 
decease was interred in the church of the same convent with 
great pomp and public honours. 

Amongst the epistles of Cassandra and her friends, the 
following occur. 

ANGELO rOLITIANO CASSANDRA FlDELIS. (Ep. 102J 



Etsi fateor, decus aetatis nostra?, sero meas ad te dari 

epistolas, non tamen tuum est me negligentiae accusare. Ac- 

cusabo enim ego eodem te crimine ; cum priesertim crebris 

Uteris tuis me visere sis pollicitus. Verum id puto non negli- 

v gentia evenisse, sed nostras potius benevolentiae te esse obli- 

tum, quod mihi aedepol gravius est. Perjucundum mihi qui- 



POLITIAN. 137 



dition to the interesting account of her 



already before the public. 



dem erat abs te amari, et numero tuorum amicorum ascribi. 
Si nostrae benevolentiae immemor es, recordare saltern tua- 
rum pollicitationum ; nee Politiani esse idem affirmare et 
negare. Fac igitur ut principiis benevolentiae consentiat 
exitus ; quandoquidem tuos omnes propter te amo, te vero 
propter teipsum ; ex quo te orare aequum est at quod in 
animo tuo diu concepisti, aliquando parias; et aliquod te 
dictum (fortasse dignumj edas, ut ex ejus lectione, jucun- 
ditate et fructu perfrui valeamus. Tuum est hoc munus, 
gloria nostra ; a te hoc Cassandra ilia tua, vah ! quid dixi, 
Cassandra, — quinimo civitas tua, flos totius orbis, omnes fere 
mortales non expectant sed expostulant. Non utar hac in re 
pluribus verbis, quod te facere certe scio. Reliquum est, 
ut iisdem precibus orem quibus soleo, ut me omnesque meos 
Marsilio Ficino nostro, ac Bartholomaeo Scalae, uti patri, 
viris doctissimis commendatos facias, necnon sorori meae 
pracstantissiraae Alexandras vi. Idus Sextiles. 

Another fragment of a letter, " Cassandrce Politiano" 
which follows the preceding, is dated Kal. April. 1494-. 

ANGELUS POLITIANUS CASSANDRA FIDELI# 

Graviter epistola tua nos accusat quod posteaquam a te 
. . . . . . sumus, neque literasmisimus neque omnino prsesti- 

timus quae tibi coram pollicebamur. Ego vero mea Cassandra, 
sicuti quod objicis fateor, ita afferre causam possum quamob- 
rem cessasse officium non indigneris. Nam cum te olim domi 
visurus salutaturusque venissem, qua maxime causa profectus 
Venetias fueram, tuque te diutius expectanti habitu quo- 
dam pulchro, pulcherrima ipsa, quasi Nympham de sylvis, 
btulisses, mox ornatissimis copiosisque verbis atque ut 
verissime dicam, divinum quiddam sonantibus compellasses, 
ita. mihi animus repente (quod te arbitror meminisse) mira- 
culo illo tanto et rei novitate obstupuit, ut quod de se ait 
iEneas, "raris turbatus vocibus hiscerem," vixque illud saltern 
meam tibi excusare infantiam potuerit : postea vero quam— 
(C cetera desunt.J 

ALEXANDRA SCALA CASSANDRA FIDELI. 

Quicunque isthinc hue ad nos pronciscuntur virtutem 
tuam praedicant, ut apud hos quoque summa in admiratione 

T 



138 MEMOIRS OF 



Lib.iii.ep.n. Angelas Politianus to Cassandra Fidelis. 

O decus Italiae Virgo, quas dicere grates, 
Virgil. Quasve referre parem ! 

" What adequate acknowledgments can I 
offer, for the honour of your letter : in what 
terms express my admiration, that such a 
letter should have been the production of a 



sit. De ingenio tuo, ( de) doctrina, de moribus, nobis admi- 
randa quasdam et fere incredibilia afferuntur. Quare tibi 
gratulor, agoque gratias qudd non nostrum modo sexum, sed 
hanc quoque setatem illustraveris. Vale. Ex Florentid prid. 
Non. Oct. 1492. 

The following occurs in answer to a letter of Alessandra 
Scala, which does not appear in the collection: 



CASSANDRA FIDELIS ALEXANDRA SCAL£. 

Ex tuis ornatissimis literis id prospeximus quod nobis fuit 
perjucundum, te nostram haud vulgarem benevolentiam 
judicasse cum tua omnia me non modo cognoscere voluisti, 
verum mecum de iisdem consulere. Scribis mea itaque 
Alexandra, utrum Musis an viro te dedas, ancipitem esse. 
Id tibi de hac re eligendum censeo ad quod te magis pro- 
clivem natura constituit; nam omne consilium quod recipitur, 
pro recipientis facultate recipi asserit Plato. Quod quidem 
tibi erit perfacile factu, cum violentum perpetuum nullum. 
Vale iv. Kal. Feb. 1492. " Cassandrce Fidelis Vcnetct 
Epistolce et Orationes Fosthumce." Edidit cum vita ejus 
Jac. Phil. Thomasimis, 8vo. Fatavii, 1636. 

But it would be unfair to judge of this lady's classical 
attainments from the foregoing specimens, which are given 
by Thomasinus in a very incorrect and mutilated state. 

To the other youthful accomplishments of Cassandra, 
Tiraboschi adds a proficiency in music. She was invited 
to their respective courts by Leo X. by Louis XII. of 
^ France, and by the Queen of Spain. With the invita- 

tion of the latter, Cassandra was inclined to comply, but the 



i 



POLITIAN. 139 

lady's pen : of one moreover, in the early morn 
of youth, yet surpassing the attainments of 
age and experience. It shall no longer be the 
exclusive privilege of antiquity, to boast of 
their Sybils, and their Muses Let not the 
Pythagoreans tell us of their female profici- 
ents : the Socratics, of their Diotima, or As- 
pasia : nor Greece pride herself in the mention 
of her Telesilla, Corinna, Sappho, Anyte, 
Erinna, Praxilla, Cleobulina, and other vo- 
taresses of song, that yet live in her record- 
ing pages. We Mali no longer call in question 
all that exulting Rome has told us, concern- 
ing the daughters of Lselius and Hortensius, 
and Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi : ma- 
trons surpassing senators in eloquence. It is 
not to be supposed that nature ever denied 
your sex the capacity requisite to the attain- 
ment of the highest literary excellence. It 
must indeed be confessed to the honour of 
ancient times, that persons, even of the lowest 
order, were not precluded from the means 
and opportunities of intellectual improvement. 
In our age, when those of our sex are few 



senate of Venice, tenacious of such an ornament, would not 
permit her to desert her native city. She ran great 
risk of being shipwrecked with her husband in their 
return from Candia. Tommasini and Niceron say, that at 
ninety years of age she was elected " Superiora delle Spa- 
daliere de S. Dominico," at Venice, and having presided 
here twelve years, died in 1567, aged one hundred and two; 
but the time of her death was March 6, 1558 ; consequently 
she was either ninety-three years old when this happened, or 
if she lived to the more advanced age abovementioned, 
must have been born circa 1456. Tiraboschi Storia delta 
Poesia ltd. vol. ii. p, 263, of the edition of Mr. Mathias, 
in Londra, 1803. 

T 2 









140 MEMOIRS OF 

indeed who distinguish themselves by their 
erudition, that you should appear almost a 
solitary instance among yours, and greatly 
dare to relinquish the employments of the 
needle, and the devoirs of the toilette, for 
the pen of the student ; is a spectacle no less 
novel and surprising, than would be the flow- 
ers and verdure of spring, amidst the dreari- 
ness of winter. If your commencements are 
thus prodigious, what may we not expect from 
the maturity of your studies !" 

" Your distinctions are not less ingenious 
and acute, than your reasoning is forcible. 
Yet with elegant simplicity of expression, you 
intermingle that delicate playfulness of fancy, 
and those graces, peculiar to your sex, which 
cannot fail to render your letters highly agree- 
able. Your other compositions, replete with 
native traits of genius, display uncommon eru- 
dition, expressed in a rich, harmonious, and 
lucid style. — I hear too, that in conversation, 
you i^ossess an appropriate felicity of language, 
which has been denied to men of the greatest 
literary eminence : — that you can disentangle 
the perplexities of scholastic disputation ; re- 
solve the most intricate questions, and pro- 
pose the most perplexing : that on philoso- 
phical subjects, equally skilled in offensive 
and defensive argument, you dare to enter 
the lists with professors : yet with such pro- 
priety and grace, that your courage finds no 
disadvantage in your sex, your modesty in 
your courage, nor your ingenuity in your 
modesty : yet that while all commend you, 
you shrink from praise, with an engaging dif- 
fidence which renders you still more an object 
of admiration. I need not say how highly 



POLITIAN. 141 

gratifying to me, would be the pleasure of 
contemplating your personal accomplishments, 
and of listening to your conversation. How 
gladly should I regard you as my muse ; how 
eagerly derive from your words and influence, 
that inspiration, which might suddenly light 
up my breast with the true spirit of poesy. I 
would then exclaim in the language of one of 
the bards of old, 

" Nee me carminibus vincanl aut Thracius Orpheus, 

Aut Linus, huic mater quamvis, atque huic pater adsit, 

Orphei Calliopea, Lino formosus Apollo." Virgil. 

Alessandra, the accomplished daughter of 
Bartolemasus Scala, was no less distinguished 
by her personal beauty, than her literary ac- 
quirements. This lady gave her hand to the 
Greek Marullus ; (?) and Politian is numbered 



(i) Michael Marullus Tarciianiota, who claimed 
descent from imperial ancestry, on the taking of Constantino- 
ple accompanied his parents into Italy. His first residence was 
at Ancona, but he afterwards removed to Florence, where he 
was hospitably received by Lorenzo de' Medici. A soldier 
from his early youth, he was, agreeably to his own confes- 
sion, at the same time a votary of Mars and of the Muses. 

According to authorities cited by Hody, Marullus at 
some period of his life availed himself of the instructions of 
Pontanus. It is certain he possessed the good opinion of 
Sannazarius, who not only makes honourable mention of 
him in his poems, (Eleg. n. v. 29, 30J but is supposed to 
have espoused his quarrel with Politian. Such is the motive 
assigned for those two acrimonious epigrams of Sannazarius, 
addressed " ad Pulitianum," which are levelled at the lite- 
rary reputation of Politian. In the la*ter, " Vanas Gigantum 
iras, &c." invehitur noster (says Graeviu<, notes to this Ep. 
Edit. Amstel. 12mo. 1689 ; ) in Politiani Miscellanea : — sed 
Dii boni ! — quam livide, quam parum modeste : — nollem fac- 
tum — Syncere, nollem. " 

Whether from indulgence or conviction, says the same 



142 MEMOIRS OF 

amongst her unsuccessful admirers ; (k) which 
circumstance, it has been observed, may in 
some degree account for the asperities which 
marked his controversy with her father. She 
is said to have been assisted in her studies by 
Joannes Lascaris, and Demetrius Chalcondy- 
les : but in evidence of her proficiency, it 
remains to be observed, that it qualified her 
?oUtianif ram ' to re ply to a Greek epigram, which the gal- 
lantry of Politian addressed to her, in the same 



critic, the productions of Marullus, were by the learned of 
his time, pronounced equal to those of the ancients, and 
their author declared worthy to take precedence even of 
Politian, whose extensive erudition and classic elegance 
certainly, with much greater justice, entitle him to such high 
praise. But more modern judges, far from assigning to 
Marullus the highest rank in polite literature, liave pro- 
nounced him unworthy of the lowest. Graevius further 
declares, that he cannot otherwise account for the unquali- 
fied praises bestowed on Marullus by early scholars, unless 
it may be attributed to their surprize on seeing a native of 
Greece acquire such a facility of throwing off Latin verses. 
" Nisi quod inusitatum hactenus esset videre hominem By- 
zantinum qui magna volubilitate versus faceret latinos." 
Marullus was drowned in an inconsiderable river in Tuscany : 
his horse happening to plunge into a quicksand. Jovius 
places this event in the year 1499 or 1500. (Vide Hodium 
de Greeds IUustr. et Pier. Voter, de infelicitate Literatorum, 

(k) DE SEIPSO, SEMPER AMANTE. 

Sex ego cum plena, perago trieteride lustra, 

Nee placet in speculo jam mea forma mihi ; 
Nee responsurum spes improba fingit amorem, 

Blanditiisque levem suspicor esse (idem : 
Cum tamen haec ita sint, capior miser illice vultu, 

Et nunquam a dura compede solvor amans. 
Jam, jam militia nQstrae contenta Juventae 
\ Desinat, aut ceston comraodet alma Venus. 

Inter Pocmata Politiani. 



POLITIAN. 143 

language and measure ; and that in a public 
representation of the " Electra" of Sophocles, 
at Florence, (/) this lady undertook to per- 
form the principal female character : with 
what success, we may learn from Politian 
himself, if his judgment may be deemed suffi- 
ciently impartial. He addressed to her on 
this occasion the following Greek verses. 



(I) Classical exhibitions of this kind were probably 
very frequent in the early periods of the revival of learning. 
Joannes Sulpitius Verulanus, in an early edition of Vitru- 
vius, dedicated to Cardinal Rafaele Riario, if we may give 
credit to M. de la Monnoye, acquaints us that scenical 
paintings and decorations were first exhibited to 
modern times on occasion of the performance, probably of 
a Latin comedy of Plautus or Terence at Rome, bv the 
scholars of Pomponius Lsetus, The passage is as follows. 
" Tu etiam primus picturatae scenae faciem, quum Pompo- 
niani comoediam agerent, nostro saeculo ostendisti." 

It appears from the letters of Bembus (lam. Ep. lib. i. 
ep. 1 8. J that in the year 1499, the " Trinummus," and 
" Paenulus" of Plautus, and the " Eunuchus" of Terence, 
were publicly performed at Ferrara, before numerous spec- 
tators with great applause. The words of Bembus are 
these. — " Non fuit tanti comitiis et foro interesse, ut ludis 
nostris careres. Nam ut scias quibus te voluptatibus de- 
fraudaveris, tres Fabulse actae sunt per hos dies : Plautinae 
duae ; Trinummus et Paenulus : et una Terentii Eunuchus ; 
quae quidem ita placuit, ut etiam secundo et tertio sit relata. 
Itaque quinque dies habuimus pulcherrimorum ludorum, ad 
quos cum magnus numerus confluxisset nostrorum civium 
(nosti enim morem civitatis) &c. (Epist. Angel, Gabrieli, 
Venetias.) Ex Ferrara. Cal. Mart. mid. 

This exercise under the direction of professors of huma- 
nity, became early a popular and useful instrument of educa- 
tion. Politian's " Prologus in Plauti Menaechmos" was com- 
posed at the request of one of his literary friends, expressly 
for an occasion of this sort. " Rogasti me superioribus 
diebus ut quoniam fabulam Plauti, Menaechmos, acturi essent 
auditores tui, prologum facerem, genere illo versiculorum 
qui sunt comosdiae familiares, &c." (Ang. Pol. Paulo Com- 
parino $uo. Lib, vii* ep. 15. J 



144 MEMOIRS OF 



EIS AAEHANAPAN THN ITOIHTPIAN. 

HAEKTPHN vrtsxpiv oxor a£uf ccCpya, xovpnv 
Koupvi A'Xsfav^p?) twYe So(^o>tA unv, 

©a/x^Eo/xsv itmnq, ituc, lujuape? AT0tJa yXwrrav 
H*tuev a7rratrkj Avitovis xaa, yevog. 

Tlug oiyt jju[jLYi\nv ^rpom Kca Irnrvixov a:/5*iv, 

ToMflGlg IvTBXVX T>jp£E 9TWJ 0V//.E?lV)f. 

ITwj wSoj 3' i(?>uXa.TTE» ukviqoltov 6ppa.T<x, youy 
Iltjfas, y?' 6pju,)jj n'/xG'poTEV, a ^aa-Ewj. 

Oy o" acr^/xovEEv ^wvtiv j3ocpv$a,Kpvv 'isicrx, 
BXipy.<xTi pt5aX£a; a-yv 5 e%esv OsaTaj. 

IIavTE 5 - ap IfETrXay^Ev, e'^xe £nXoj ^' y7r£vy|Ev, 
ftj tov 1[aoc,ijjlov lys h$ov h <zyx.ot,\i<nv. 



TO ALESSANDRA SCALA. 

Electra's griefs, when Alessandra feigns, 

So well the maid a virgin's part sustains, 

Athenian accents from a Tuscan tongue 

With added sweetness charm the listening throng. — 

What dignity, what grace our souls engage ! 

Thus would Electra's self have trod the stage ! 

Each look, each gesture nature's semblance wears. 

And nature pleads in her impassion'd tears ! 

But when the fair — with love too well exprest, 

Folds her Orestes to her heaving breast; 

How do I long to fill the envied place, 

And wistful — sigh to share that dear embrace. 

An insatiable passion for an acquaintance with the Greek 

language, is said to have been first excited in the youthful 

bosom of the celebrated Hen. Stephanus, by frequently 

hearing his fellow-students of a more advanced age declaim 

\ from the •* Medea" of Euripides. See Bailkt ; Enfant 

Qelebrcs, SfC." 



POLITIAN. 145 

To augment the number of literary prodi- 
gies which distinguished this interesting pe- 
riod, the subsequent letter furnishes an in- 
stance of remarkable precocity of genius in a 
child, whom Baillet has omitted to enumerate 
among his " Enfans Celebres." 



Angelus Politianus to Picus of Mirandula. Lib. xii. ep. 2. 

" I sincerely wish you had been of our 
party to-day, at the table of Paulus Ursinus ; 
who is a gentleman not only of distinguished 
military celebrity, but partial to letters, and 
literary society. He has a child of the name 
of Fabius, a youth of eleven years of age, of 
singular beauty and endowments. His fine 
auburn hair falls gracefully on his shoulders. 
He has an eye sparkling with intelligence, an 
open countenance, a person elegantly formed, 
and a most graceful carriage, which inclines a 
little to the military. When the party had 
taken their seats, this child was desired to ac- 
company some persons of skill, in singing- 
several airs set to music : which he did with so 
melodious a voice, that for my own part I lis- 
tened with extasy. He afterwards recited an 
heroic poem in praise of my pupil Piero de' 
Medici, of his own composing ; for that it 
really was so, and not the work of another, 
(as I at first suspected) I had afterwards an 
opportunity of ascertaining by indubitable evi- 
dence. And what kind of a composition do 
you/ think it Avas? Really such an one as I 
myself should not need to be ashamed of. His 



146 MEMOIRS OF 

tones were not merely those proper to reading, 
nor altogether modulated as in singing ; but 
formed by a pleasing inflection of voice be- 
tween both. As the subject required, they 
were uniform or varied, with exact regard to 
connection and pause : acute or grave : easy 
or emphaticai : quick or slow : yet always cor- 
rect, always distinct, always agreeable. His 
action was neither indolent and unanimated, 
nor yet bold, and forward. You would have 
vowed another little Roscius stood before you. 
He was suddenly requested to turn the verse 
into prose, and repeat the same thoughts 
unconfmed by measure. Accordingly, after a 
short interval of consideration, he began again, 
in a manner perfectly unassuming ; and I was 
astonished to hear from his youthful lips, a 
flow of expression so select and appropriate, as 
the pen seldom supplies. Are you already 
surprized? You will be still more so with 
what followed. The boy had completed his 
task, and was ordered to take his food, stand- 
ing : for such is his constant custom. After 
the first remove, I was requested to propose 
subjects to him for epistolary composition : as 
many as I pleased : on which he was to dictate, 
extempore, to several amanuenses at once. I 
mentioned only five : not willing to bear too 
hard upon the child : though he engagingly 
insisted on more. But the subjects which I se- 
lected on this occasion, were of a nature so vari- 
ous and novel ; and some of them so ludicrous, 
that I am convinced he could not have been 
previously prepared for them. Immediately 
five persons, with pens, ink and paper, plac- 
ed themselves in order, to write as he should 
dictate. The boy, standing in a conspicuous 









POLITIAtf, 14' 

situation, fixes his eyes modestly upon the 
ground, and pauses a moment ; then raising 
his head, dictates a few words to the person 
who sits highest ; makes a sign to the second, 
and gives him instructions on a different sub- 
ject : and proceeds in like manner with the 
rest, down to the lowest : then returning to 
the first, so fills up every chasm, and con- 
nects the suspended thread of his argument, 
that nothing appears discordant or disjointed ; 
and at the same instant, who would have 
thought it, he finishes the five letters. After- 
wards, we rode out to see the combatants in 
the Giostra ; (m) and amongst them Piero de* 
Medici my charge. On this occasion an ac- 
cident happened that greatly discomposed me: 
but on reflection, served to confirm me in the 
belief that this was no ordinary child. Young 
Fabius was carried by a beautiful and spirited 
palfrey, of which he is uncommonly fond : 
on this he bounded over the field, and expati- 
ated at pleasure ; — now urging it to full speed ; 



(m) That these " Giostrl" were not infrequent at Flo- 
rence, may be inferred from a letter of Politian to Picus. 
Lib. xii. ep. 7. " Ceiebravit hodie nostra juventus equitum 
certamen hastis concur rentium, quo mihi spectaculo carere 
pene non licebat, certe non libuit. Tu tamen a me solos 
fieri poetas aut oratores putas, at ego non minus facio bella- 
tores. Et vicerunt omnino quos optarem, Petrus Medices, 
ac Laurentius Tornabonus; noster uterque non discipulus 
modo sed alumnus. Duplex ibi palma, prioremque Petrus, 
alteram Laurentius abstulit ; sed insigni tamen populi totius 
acclamatione, plausuque multiplici : videlicet admiratio 
quaedam suffragabatur, quod primae nobilitatis juvenes, alias 
in toga et foro conspicui, cum militibus exercitatissimis con- 
currerant, et eos in ipsorum quod dicitur harena superave- 
rant, &c." 

U % 



148 MEMOIRS OF 

—•now wheeling about, with as much dexterity 
as spirit. He happened to be near me, listen- 
ing with eagerness to my literary bagatelles, 
which had deeply arrested his attention ; when, 
on a sudden his horse, stumbling against an 
impediment in the way, came down upon his 
young rider. The child uttered a shriek. The 
servants hastened with all speed, each eager to 
relieve him in this alarming crisis ; one of 
whom, dismounting too precipitately, frac- 
tured his leg. All Mas alarm and confusion. 
For my own part I remained stupified with 
horror. The father arrives ; — admonishes the 
child not to be alarmed ; the latter no sooner 
perceived him to be present, than, which I 
considered as a strong proof of a noble spirit, 
he entirely ceased all complaints and exclama- 
tions, — and only requested they would proceed 
with gentleness and caution, lest the horse, 
in the violence of his efforts to rise, should in- 
jure him more severely. The girths were cut 
as the creature lay, and young Fabius was at 
length drawn from under him, and restored in 
safety to his trembling friends ; but so chafed 
with the accident, that it became adviseable 
to convey him home. For my own part, I 
found my spirits so much fluttered, that I left 
the spectacle and came home also ; scarcely 
able to persuade myself that the child was safe ; 
and terrified almost to death, with the im- 
pression this alarming circumstance had made 
on my mind. 

Such is one day's history of young Fabius 
Ursinus : who if he lives to complete the mea- 
sure of his days, (which God grant he may) 
. and perseveres in the path of renown, as he 

•has begun, will, I venture to predict, prove 



POLITIAN. 149 

such a person as the present age glories in con- 
sidering you : — that is to say, one whom for 
his admirable qualities and attainments, man- 
kind must unite to venerate as something more 
than human. Adieu" 



Thus have we endeavoured to exhibit Po- 
litian, as a scholar and a professor, in that 
favourable point of view, in which he deserves 
to be considered ; and to evince the services 
which, by his lectures and writings, he ren- 
dered to the reviving cause of letters. We 
have traced him through some of those scenes 
in which he acted a conspicuous part, on 
the public theatre of life, in conjunction 
with the great and the learned of his age. 
It has been our object to select from his 
poetical works, and his epistolary correspon- 
dence, such passages as may enable the reader 
duly to appreciate both his talents and mo- 
ral qualities. That part of his private and 
domestic history which results from his more 
immediate connection with the family of Lo- of Lon <ie* 
renzo de' Medici, has recently been given, Medi ci- 
with so much ability and interest, that a repe- 
tition of it in this volume would be more than 
superfluous. v In his amicable intercourse with 
Giovanni Pico of Mirandula, he will again 
frequently present himself to our notice ; — for 
the literary histories of Picus and Politian are 
not to be separated. Many unsatisfactory, and 
some ridiculous causes have been assigned for vide jovium 
the premature decease of this eminent scholar [ Jl E1 °s iis .; 

, l n , i i • i i Menckemum 

and restorer of letters : but his early removal in vita p©iit. 
from a state of existence so fragile and uncer- &c * 
tain, requires not to be accounted for in any 






Roscoe's Life 



150 MEMOIRS OF 

extraordinary manner. He died at Florence, 
upon the 24th. day of September, 1494, in the 
forty-first year of his age. 

Various judgments have been pronounced 
on the writings and literary merits of Politian. 
Some remarks on these subjects may be found 
in the preceding pages. The following is the 
decision of a critic (/?) of our own times : it 
must, however, be restricted to his Latin 
compositions. " Politian cultivated polite 
letters with a success hardly equalled by that 
of any other scholar. He was, however, more 
happy in prosaic composition than in poetry. 
To every work he brought a genius full of 
life and activity. But he was diffuse and 
daring, more resembling Lucan than Virgil. 
It was his earnest endeavour to support con- 
stantly a kind of pomp of sentences, which 
having extended beyond moderate bounds of 
cadence, he endeavoured generally to finish 
with a pointed close. A plan, which in fami- 
liar writing, such as his " Rusticus" should 



(n) See the preface to a small volume, intituled, " An- 
thologia, seu selecta quaedam Poemata Italorum qui Latine 
scripserunt," published at London, 16S4, in 12mo. by a 
person who chose to conceal his name, but whom Dr. John- 
son has pronounced well qualified for his undertaking. Pope 
republished this selection with considerable additions, in 
two volumes, 12mo. But, as Dr. Johnson has remarked, he 
injuriously omitted the learned preface of his predecessor. 
(Life of "Pope, Johnson's Prefaces Biogr. et Lit.) An anno- 
tator on Johnson observes, that the publisher of the selection 
of 1684, is since discovered to have been Atterbury, after- 
wards bishop of Rochester. The above translation of bishop 
Atterbury's judgment upon the works of Politian which ap- 
pears in Latin in the former edition of these memoirs, is 
\ here given in the words, and at the suggestion of a candid 

jmd sensible writer in the British Critic. Vol, xix. p. 40 L 



POLITIAN. 

have been, is not exactly suitable. You will 
find in him, however, many things beauti- 
fully expressed, and worthy of the highest 
estimation, which will stand the test of cri- 
ticism, and may be approved almost without 
exception." 



151 





MEMOIRS 



JOANNES PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 



Haflcc Tap civQpwroio-i /xaOwv avSpamya, IIIKOS 
Qua, TTfog o$<x,vot\vs >)X9e /xa9*io-o/A£Voj. 

MENAGE. 



G, 



'iovanni, son of Giovan -Francesco 
Pico,(#) Prince of Mirandula and Con- 
cordia, was born at Mirandula, Feb. 24, 1463. 
His mother, whose name was Julia, was of 
the noble house of Boiardo, The offspring 
of Giovan -Francesco, by this lady, were, Ga- 



(a) The family of Pico had claim to great antiquity, and 
even pretended to deduce its origin from the Roman Em- 
peror Constantine. 

Quem fugit egregiae clarissima gentis origo, 
Et vetus a Pic i sanguine ducta domus ? 
X 



154 MEMOIRS OF 

leozzo, the eldest, father of Giovan-Francesco, 
who afterwards succeeded to the government 
of the principality, and has left an account 
of his uncle's life ; — Antonio-Maria, the se- 
cond son ; — two daughters, who both survived 
to years of maturity, and intermarried with 
some of the most illustrious houses of Italy ; — 
and lastly, Giovanni, the subject of the pre- 
sent narrative. In those days of superstition 
and credulity, it was not uncommon for pre- 
ternatural incidents to be feigned or imagined, 
to distinguish the birth and decease of extra- 
ordinary persons. The prince, his nephew and 
biographer, informs us, that at the precise 
in vita joan. hour of Giovanni's birth, a ball of fire was 
prafix& e . ri Edit. seen hovering iii the air, exactly over his mo- 
Basiieze, anno ther's chamber, which having remained visible 
impressa.° ' for a short time, suddenly disappeared. The 
circular form, substance, and conspicuous 
nature of this prodigy, he supposes to have 
denoted the perfection and ardency of intel- 
lect which were to characterise the person then 
about to be ushered into the world, and the 
extensive fame and admiration he would ac- 
quire; its speedy disappearance, the brevity 
of the career he was destined to run ; and that 
while the astonished gaze of mankind should 
be earnestly fixed upon him, as upon the me- 



Utque alios taceam tua quos Mirandula belli 
Et pacis magna non sine laude tulit. 

Ille tuus genitor, cujus tu nomine nomen 
Parte refers, summo dignus honore fait. 

Te vero peperit Latiarum gloria matrum 
Boiarda haud humili Julia nata loco. 

\ Titi Vcsp. Strozce Aehstichon. Lib* iii. p. 112, Edit, 

Aldin, 1513. 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 155 

teor in question, he would no less unexpect- 
edly vanish from their sight. 

Picus was, in all probability, very young 
when his father died ; and the care of his 
education devolved upon his mother, who 
provided him with approved masters in every 
branch of study then deemed necessary to form 
the gentleman and the scholar ; and his pro- 
gress in polite letters did not merely equal, 
but far surpassed the most sanguine expecta- 
tion of his friends. They were, with reason, 
astonished to perceive in a child a maturity 
of judgment, vigour of intellect, and cor- 
rectness of taste in the composition both of 
verse and prose, which would not have dis- 
graced professors themselves. Such was his 
quickness of apprehension,, that he at once 
understood, — such his tenaeiousness of memo- 
ry, that he retained without difficulty, the 
instructions of his preceptors. Of his powers 
of reminiscence, particulars are related which 
almost exceed credibility. If he heard a 
poem but once recited, he could, it is said, not 
only repeat the whole exactly in the same, 
but to the astonishment of his audience, 
do the like in a retrograde order ; and we are 
assured, that nature had constituted him a 
remarkable exception from a rule almost uni- 
versal in its application, that they who pos- 
sess the greatest celerity of apprehension retain 
only for a short time, what they acquire with- 
out effort ; while the slow student, and he 
who apprehends with difficulty, is scarcely 
ever observed to lose by forgetfulness, that 
which cost him so much labour in the acqui- 
sition. 

Early designed by his mother for the 
x £ 



I 



156 . MEMOIRS OF 




church, Picus was at her instance, sent at the 
age of fourteen to Bologna, to acquire a know- 
ledge of the pontifical, or canon law. To this 
study, jejune and disgusting in itself, and 
grounded only on remote usages and obscure 
traditions, he applied with great patience and 
perseverance for two years ; during which 
time, he composed an abbreviated digest, or 
manual of the pontifical letters, termed de- 
cretals ; so arranged as to furnish an expedi- 
tious mode of deducing from these confused 
sanctions the conclusions desired ! and this 
work, the production of so juvenile a pen, 
would, it is observed, have done credit to the 

vita pid ut most accomplished professor. 

supra ' But however little minds might have ac- 

quiesced in such trite and circumscribed ac- 
quirements, the vigorous and speculating 
intellect of Picus, impatient of the unworthy 
trammels imposed upon it, demanded a wider 
range for the exercise of its powers. Anxious, 
therefore, to grasp all those branches of scho- 
lastic and metaphysical science, which, in a 
great measure, constituted the learning of the 
day, he at length quitted the university of 
Bologna ; and visiting successively all the 
most celebrated schools and colleges of Italy 
and France, sought out every individual scho- 
lar and professor of distinction ; and like ano- 
ther Plato, or Apollonius, entered into the 
most minute discussions with them, for the 
sake of acquiring knowledge ; so that before 
he had attained the age of manhood, he was 
no less universally than deservedly recognised 
as a most consummate philosopher and di- 
ibid. vine. 

This precocity of genius, for which Picus 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 15' 

was so remarkable, must naturally lead to the 
conclusion, that his early years passed not 
without producing a variety of compositions 
worthy of such talents and attainments. In 
fact, many of those of his letters which are 
still extant, appear to have been written whilst 
he was yet very young. He early distin- 
guished himself as a poet, by his compositions 
both in the Latin and in the Italian language ; 
almost all of which, as they were disapproved 
either by the nicety of his maturer judgment, 
or by the purity of his religious and moral 
feelings, at a later period, he was induced to 
destroy. Yet the productions of his juvenile 
pen, had they experienced the fortune to sur- 
vive to the present times, would, perhaps, 
have been perused with greater interest, than 
those profound and abstruse speculations of his 
maturer years, which still remain ; and his 
classical and academical effusions would have 
invited the curiosity which his scholastic and 
cabalistic writings serve only to intimidate 
and deter. Of the early letters of Picus, 
many might be selected which tend greatly to 
support the high juvenile reputation of their 
author. But in investigating the literary pre- 
tensions of Picus, before he arrived at the age 
of manhood, we have to contend with many 
difficulties, arising from the want of docu- 
ments necessary to illustrate a scientific career 
marked with such premature attainments. It 
has been already observed, that he spent seven 
years in visiting the various seats of learn- 
ing ; and it would no doubt prove an in- 
teresting, were it a practicable undertaking, 
to follow his steps from place to place ; to 
witness those coruscations of genius which 



i 



15$ MEMOIRS OF 



rendered him the object of general admiration, 
and caused his friendship to be courted by 
veteran scholars of the highest rank and ce- 
lebrity. 
» After he had quitted the university of Bo- 

logna, the academies of Ferrara, Padua, Flo- 
rence, and Perugia, successively, became the 
respective scenes of his indefatigable studies. 
That after Bologna, Ferrara was first orna- 
mented by so distinguished a student, his 
nephew and biographer expressly informs us. 
We find he was in the habit of addressing 
pid opera, p. Battista Guarino, (b) in his letters> by the 
26 °- respectful title of Prceceptor, a circumstance, 



(b) Baptist a Guarinus, sprung from an illustrious 
family of Verona, was the son of Guarino, commonly known 
by the surname of " Veronese." He inherited his father's 
erudition and celebrity, and filling with no less reputation the 
chair of humanity-professor at Ferrara, his lectures contri- 
buted to enhance the credit of that university. Gregorio 
Giraldi (net Dial. 1. de Poet i del suo tempo) values himself 
on having been his scholar. How highly Aldus Ma- 
nutius prized his instructions may be inferred from this 
circumstance, that to him he afterwards inscribed his edition 
of Theocritus, Hesiod, and other Greek poets printed A. D. 
1495. In the dedication addressed to him, he terms him, 
n Praeceptor doctissimus," and confesses the great advantage 
he had, when a student, derived from his lessons, with re- 
gard both to the Greek and Latin languages. Such a scholar 
as Aldus, Maffei well observes, would alone suffice to im- 
mortalize his memory. In what credit he was with the 
other learned of the age, may appear from the single testi- 
mony of Politian. (Lib.i. Ep. 20. J Writing upon a point 
of disputable criticism, " Since you," says he, " the most 
eminent professor of our age, think differently from me upon 
this subject, 1 no longer place any confidence in my own 
opinion." 

Many of the poems of Battista Guarino were collected 

and published, Mutince, A. D. 1495, in 4to. Some of these 

i are addressed to Picus ; others to Hermolaus Barbarus ; but 

they seldom rise above mediocrity. Other poems of his, yet 



PICUS OF MIJtANDULA. 159 

which proves that he for some (perhaps no 
very short) time, ranked among Guarino's 
scholars in that city ; but the modest tutor 
pleasantly declines this appellation, and in- 
sists upon transferring it on the pupil ; assert- 
ing that Pico's rapid advances in literature 
were to be attributed solely to the powers of 
his own genius, which superseded or outstrip- 
ped the ordinary course of instruction. 

It is apparent from the assertion of Picus Epist# Hermo „ 
himself, that he studied at Padua two years. iao Barbaro. 
What portion of his juvenile years he spent at oper ' p " 2 
Florence, it seems more difficult to ascertain. 
He certainly formed an early connection with 
the platonic Ficinus, (c) to whose paternal 



unpublished, are said to exist in MS. Two letters by Gua- 
rinus occur among those of Picus, four among those of Po- 
litian. Various smaller works of his are enumerated by 
Maffei. He was the first editor of the commentary of Ser- 
vius upon Virgil. The fine edition of 1471 proclaims its 
own correctness in an epigram which occurs at the conclu- 
sion of the volume : 



Sunt exemplaria quippe 



Emendata tua, magne Guarine, manu. 
Edidit ille mei genitus Baptista Guanni 
In lucem, nullo tempore visa prius. 

But he particularly signalized himself by his emendations 
of Catullus; and his learned corrections of, and notes upon 
that author were carefully preserved and published by Ales- 
sandro his son, who appears to have been the father of Bat- 
tista, the author of " II Pastor Fido." (Plura vide apud Maf- 
feium ; Verona Illustrata.) 

(c) A life of Marsilius Ficinus, Auctore Joanne Corsio 
Patricio Florentino, ejus familiari et discipulo, has recently 
been published by Bandini ; Pisis ; 8vo. 1771. Corsius 
speaking of Picus says; " Hie quum Florentiam venisset, 
aedes Marsilio vicinas conduxit humiles admodum, quas ta- 
«ien fere triennium habitavit." (Ficini Vita. p. 65. ) 



! 







160 MEMOIRS OF 

exhortations, impressed upon a mind from 

childhood inflamed with a love of science, he 

£ P . Mars. Fi- professes himself greatly indebted. But whe- 

cino, oper. p. r , n . ° i J • i i i i 

253. ther tor a long, or a short period only, he shar- 
ed, as a scholar, the instructions of Ficinus, 
\ he maintained a very close, and a lasting com- 
munication with him, on the less restrained 
footing of a friend. We discover him at a 
variety of intervals at Florence, and from his 
early and repeated visits thither, may justly 
conclude that his celebrated friendship with 
Angelus Politianus commenced in his juvenile 
days. This friendship, strengthened with in- 
creasing years, constitutes the most interest- 
ing feature of his life, and was dissolved only 
by death. In a correspondence which passed 
Poiit. Ep. Lib. between them, when Picus had scarcely com- 
i. ep. 6. pl e ted his nineteenth year; " So highly" 
says Politian, " do I esteem your letter, my 
dear Picus, that I think myself incapable of 
dictating a suitable answer: such, on the other 
hand, is the candour and benevolence of your 
disposition, that I am convinced you will take 
in good part any thing that proceeds from my 
pen. Had I words to express my sentiments, 
I should attempt to extol your genius, letters, 
and eloquence, as they merit ; but I must on 
this occasion follow the example of Timantes, 
and what I cannot do justice to with my pen- 
cil, cover with a veil To you I 

acknowledge myself, on many accounts, a 
debtor ; nor shall I pretend to enumerate every 
individual obligation : but the elegant letter 
addressed to me by our learned friend Ma- 
nuel, (d) I esteem a new accession to the 



{(1) The learned Greek whom Politian here mentions, 






7 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. l6l 

number of your kindnesses ; a letter, the mel- 
lifluous diction of which exceeds in flavour 



was Emanuel Adramyttenus, a native of Crete, and 
an exile. He, flying the despotism of Mahomet II. found 
an hospitable shelter in the kindness of Picus, who availed 
himself of his instructions in the study of the Greek language. 
Manuel was the intimate friend of the celebrated Aldus 
Manutius, who having himself passed sometime at Ferrara, 
as a hearer of Battista Guarino, was constrained to quit that 
city when it was besieged by the Venetians, in the year 
1482, and seek a temporary asylum at Mirandula, in the 
hospitality of young Picus. It was indubitably about the 
same period that the above letters were written, which are 
given without a date, inter epistolas Politiani. A letter, 
which Aldus himself addressed some years afterwards to 
Politian, may serve to place this fact in a clearer point of 
view. 

ALDUS MANUTIUS ROMANUS, TO ANGELUS POLITI- 

ANUS. 

" The present year is the third from that period when the 
Venetians were occupied in besieging Ferrara. Desirous at 
that time to escape horrors, which seemed to indicate the 
particular wrath of heaven, so much did they surpass the 
ordinary consequences of warfare ; I quitted the city of 
Ferrara, and repaired to Mirandula, to Giovanni Pico, the 
most learned nobleman of our age ; knowing him to be a 
friend of literate men, and an encourager of the arts. There, 
Emanuel Adramyttenus, my very intimate acquaintance, 
shewed me a Greek letter which you had addressed to him, 
written with so much elegance, erudition, and fluency, that 
it seemed rather the production of a native of Athens, who 
had passed his whole life in that seat of letters, than of a 
Roman. From that time, my dear Angelus, I became a 
warm admirer of your genius and learning, and have ever 
since cherished for you the sincerest regard. Emanuel soon 
afterwards accompanied his prince and patron to Pavia, 
where a few months ago, he departed this life; and so much 
was I affected by his death, that no event, during the course 
of many years, has occasioned me so much regret. He was 
indeed, a man of the most polished manners, and deeply 
skilled in Greek literature j and moreover, a very affection- 

Y 






\6% ■ MEMOIRS OF 

the honey of that Hymettus, whence indubi- 
tably it was collected : a letter more delicious 



ate friend of mine. Deprived of such an one, how can I 
do otherwise than mourn a separation, by which, however, 
he is much less a loser than myself; for of his happy admis- 
sion into a better state of existence I entertain no doubt ; 
acquainted, as I anv, with the pure and upright tenor of his 
life. The misfortune, therefore, if it may be termed such, 
i applies only to myself. 

He, as I observed, set out for Pavia, whilst I departed 
from Mirandula for Carpi, at which place our Picus having 
some months afterwards arrived, took occasion to shew me 
your " Rusticus," a poem which greatly augmented the 
regard I had previously conceived for its author ; and served 
to evince the amazing extent of your talents, industry, and 
literary acquirements: nor do I fear the suspicion of flattery, 
'a a-ccvrov yivua-x.itg, for you must be conscious that these ex- 
pressions fall far short of your deserts. I refrain from enu- 
merating the handsome things Picus himself said of you, and 
that, uniformly, as often as your name was mentioned ; as 
well as the information I received from Alexander Sartius of 
Bologna, a person of unquestionable veracity, 

'f integer vitae, scelerisque purus :" 

and, as far as can be presumed from his own assertions, a 
very zealous admirer of your character. Not to be tedious, 
— stimulated by this celebrity of yours, I could no longer 
resist the desire I felt of writing to you ; of assuring you how 
much I am at your devotion ; how gladly I should embrace 
any occasion of testifying my readiness to serve you. I 
cannot find words to describe the fervent attachment I feel 
to men of extraordinary erudition : an attachment which 
hath impelled me to address you at this time, to solicit 
that with your accustomed complacency to the studiously 
disposed, you will condescend to number me amongst your 
friends. This is what I ask with all possible earnestness. I 
shall then deem my suit granted, when I find you command 
me at your pleasure, with as little ceremony as you would 
your own domestics ; a freedom to which those superlative 
talents entitle you ; which at the same time constitute me, 
while life shall last, wholly yours. Adieu." (Inter Ep. 
Polit. Lib. vii. ep. 7 .) 

Aldus, though induced to avail himself of the lectures of 



T 






\ 

PICUS OF MIRANDULA. \6S 

than nectar. I have placed him precisely in 
the circumstances of Glaucus, by exchanging 
with him brass for sterling gold. For who can 
be unconscious how much these " lvi%apioi 
Toig 'EXAvjs-iv ATTiK^ju-oi," these Attic flowers 
indigenous to Grecian soil, degenerate on this 
side of the sea. I hope, however, for more 
indulgence from criticism on this very ac- 
count, because I am a native of Latium. On 
the contrary, if found guilty of writing un- 
classical Latin, this must be my plea, — that I 
am considered as a smatterer in Greek. Thus, Q uod grsecis- 
like the bat, whilst I class with neither beasts sare putamur * 
nor birds, I endeavour to ingratiate myself 
with both parties." 

The answer of Picus is characterised by 
that modesty which appears so peculiarly E Picir 
amiable in a youthful correspondent. " My p. 247. ' 



Battista Guarino, had himself a pupil of very exalted rank. 
He was entrusted with the education of prince Alberto Pio, 
the nephew of Picus, a young nobleman of great promise, 
who afterwards shone conspicuously among the most learned 
and enlightened of the Italian nobility, and rewarded his 
preceptor's labours with very munificent marks of favour 
and esteem. Adopted into the noble family of his ward, he 
was permitted to assume the name of Aldus Pius Roma- 
nus; by which name he was from that time designated. His 
departure from Mirandula to Carpi was in order to rejoin 
the prince, his pupil ; but the latter having heen called by 
affairs of moment to Pavia, was followed thither by Aldus. 
At this city, holding frequent literary conferences with 
young Albert and Picus, he was led, principally by their 
united instances (as the indefatigable and accurate Apostolo 
Zeno believes) to form the first design of that noble typo- 
graphical institution, to which literature became subse- 
quently indebted for so many invaluable editions of the best 
Greek and Latin authors. (Manni vita di Aldo, p. 1 1 ei 
alibi i 8vo. in Venezia, 17 59. ) 

Y % 



164 



i 



MEMOIRS OF 



obligations," says he, " to you, Politian, for 
the praises you bestow upon me in your last 
letter, are proportionable to my consciousness 
how much I fall short of deserving them ; 
since obligation originates from that which is 
gratuitously given, and not from that which 
is paid as a debt. I am, therefore, your debtor 
for all the handsome things you say of me. 
As I find in myself nothing that corresponds 
with your praise ; as you owe me nothing of the 
kind, the whole is to be placed to the account 
of your peculiar good will, and partiality for 
me. If in other respects you duly weigh my 
pretensions, you will discover nothing but 
what is trivial, humble, and circumscribed. 
I am but a tyrunculus, a mere novice, who 
have just advanced one step from the darkness 
of ignorance, and no further. It were suffi- 
ciently kind in you to place me in the rank 
of students : the name of a learned man has 
something more in it, which applies to your- 
self alone, or to such as you. Little do these 
exalted titles accord with me ; since of the 
leading branches of science so far am I from 
being a master, that I behold them, as it 
were, through a glass, and with a distant 
prospect. I shall, however, strive, as indeed 
I now do, to become in future, such as you 
represent me to be at present ; what you are 
pleased to think, or at least wish me to be. 
In the mean time, my Angelus, I will follow 
your example, who excuse yourself among 
Greeks, on the plea of being a native of La- 
tium ; among Latins, because you are a smat- 
terer in Greek. Allow me to adopt a similar 
subterfuge : to approve myself to poets and 
\ rhetoricians; because I am said to philosophise ; 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 165 

to philosophers, because I pretend to rheto- 
rise, and pay my court to the muses. But 
alas ! my fate must be far different from 
yours : whilst I wish to rest, as they say, upon 
two supporters, I fall between both ; and the 
result in short is, that I am neither a rhe- 
torician, nor a philosopher. You, on the 
contrary, so well maintain your double cha- 
racter ; so honourably embrace the erudition 
of both Greece and Rome, that it can scarcely 
be discerned which in you is genuine, which 
insititious. To say nothing of the one, (for 
to whom do you give place in Roman erudi- 
tion ?) who would think, as one said of Ha- 
drian, that a native of Latium should prove 
himself so fluent a Grecian. Our friend Ema- 
nuel protested as he perused your letter, " that 
Athens herself w T as not so Attic. " With you, 
my Angelus, flattery apart, few or none of 
our country deserve to be compared : were 
there but more such, the present age would 
have little reason to envy antiquity. Go on, 
I intreat you, exert all your powers to rescue 
letters from decay, and to preserve the splen- 
dour of the Roman tongue from being entirely 
tarnished and effaced by the injuries of age. 
Cease not to oblige the public from time to 
time, with something new, to aid and illus- 
trate classic lore ; and let those works which 
are now confined to your study, be speedily 
brought to light for the advantage of the stu- 
dious," 

Picus, at this and many subsequent peri- 
ods, passed those intervals in which he was 
not engaged in some literary excursion, in his 
rural retreat, at Fratta, in the neighbourhood 
pfMirandula. In a letter, dated June, 1482, 



1 66 



MEMOIRS OF 



247. 






Pici Ep. Nico- } ie i n f orms Nicolaus Leonicenus, (e) who had 

lao Leoniceno i i v i • • n 

operum, pag. been driven from lerrara by the calamities ot 
war, that he has lately erected in the vicinity 
of this city a villa, as pleasant and complete 
as the nature of the scite would admit ; and 
that he has also written a long poem in its 
praise. Inviting the worthy professor to come 
and spend some time with him in his new ha- 
bitation, Picus expresses a hope that he will 
be pleased both with his villa and his verses. 
Amongst the individuals who suffered most 
severely by the effects of that war which now 
raged between the Venetians and the little 
state of Ferrara, was Titus Vespasian us Stroza, 
at once the kinsman and friend of Picus. 
Stroza, in a poetical epistle to Picus, has 
given a feeling description of the horrors and 
devastations that attended these hostilities. 
About the same time Picus, not unsusceptible 
of the tender passion, appears to have solicited 
the Ferrarese poet to celebrate his amours. 



Strozse Patris 
et Filii Poem, 
p. 106. Edit. 
Aldin. 8vo. 
1513. 



The unfortunate bard, however 



urges 



the 



(e) Nicolaus Leonicenus, a native of Vicenza, 
was born A. D. 1428. He filled the chair of professor in 
medicine, philosophy, and classical learning at Ferrara, with 
the greatest reputation, for more than sixty years. This 
celebrated man, who had to struggle with a dangerous in- 
firmity during the first thirty years of his life, passed the 
remainder of his days, to the advanced age of ninety-six, in 
perfect health, and the complete enjoyment of his mental 
powers : which is attributed to his simplicity of manners, 
strict temperance, and great equability of disposition. He 
died A. D. 1524. The senate of Ferrara honoured his me- 
mory with a monumental inscription, declaratory of his leanir 
ing, virtues, and eminent literary services. (See Diet. His- 
tor. (k la Medccine par M. Eloy.) His works, which are 
numerous, have respect principally to medicine and natural 
history. 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. , 1 67 

calamities of the times and his own unhappy 
circumstances, as reasons for declining so 
playful a task. Thus he expostulates with his 
gayer friend, in numbers, not indeed the most 
polished and classical : but perhaps adversity 
on this occasion operated to depress the flights 
of his muse. 



Ut scribam teneros hortaris amores, 



Ut tua sit versa nota Ne^ra meo, 
Ut tibi flamma recens in lucem Candida per me 

Phyllis eat: cuperem, Pice, quod ipse rogas. 
Qaam sperare meis famam queat utraque dictis ? 

Nullum enim extincto fulgur ab igne venit. 
Parce recusanti ; non quod tuus omnia Titus 

Quae tibi sunt cordi non obeunda putet, 
Sed non sollicitos laeta argumenta poetas 

Poscunt ; est vacua mente canendus Amor; 
Nee quisquam melius quam tu qui vulnera sentis 

Dicere quae soli sunt libi nota valet. 
Adde quod ingenium felix sortitus ; et omni 

Doctrina insignis ; quod petis intus habes. 
Sive quid Argolico, seu quid sermone Latino 

Tentaris, linguam doctus utramque tenes. 
Sive aliquid prosa scribis — seu carmina condis 

Pallada sic jurem Pieridasque loqui. 
Cui magis innumeras rerum causasque, viresque j 

Juraque Naturae condita nosse datum est. 
Quis lunae solisque vias, etlucida coeli 

Metitur tanto sydera judicio. 
Quis numeros omnes ad summam colligit unam 

Tarn subito, et mira certius arte notat. 
Quis res propositas ita disserit acer, et omni 

Irretitum hostem cum ratione tenet ? 
Quis te, de superis et Relligione loquentem 

Non admirandum dux.erit esse virum ? 



A 



\6& MEMOIRS OF 

Te matura senem prudentia reddidit, atqui 
Prima tenet roseas vix tibi barba genas. 



Why Picus ! why to love recal my lays, 
And bid me sing your own Ne^era *s praise, 
Or Phyllis fair ; the maid whose beauty fires 
Your breast, susceptive still of new desires ? 
Say, can extinguished embers yield a flame ? 
Then may my Muse transmit their charms to fame. 
Urge me no more — yet think not I decline 
With cynic frowns, the labours you assign: 
No — themes so light my pensive strains refuse, 
Nor brooks the Paphian God a weeping muse. 
But who, like you, that feel the pleasing smart 
Can speak the joys, the fears your loves impart? 
Genius, like yours : — those pow'rs that can pervade 
Each maze of science, — ask no foreign aid. 
You — skiird alike in each, the classic store 
Possess of Grecian and of Latian lore. 
Weave you the verse, — or flows the unmeasur'd line, 
Here Pallas prompts — and there each Muse divine. 
Who scans like you of every mighty cause 
The effect? profoundly read in nature's laws, 
Of each bright orb that high in ether burns 
Who unfolds like you the wanderings and returns ? 
Who so expert in numbers' magic powers ? 
Who so sublime on reasoning pinion soars ? 
Or when the Stagyrite'i art some theme propounds, 
The opponent's skill so tortures and confounds ? 
But when diviner themes your breast inspire, 
What glowing words that elocution fire ! 
Strange ! that in wisdom, you whose aspect wears 
The bloom of youth, should rival hoary hairs. 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. ] 69 

The task then of poetically celebrating his 
own gallantries devolved upon Picus himself: 
and that he performed it, we need no other 
testimony than the following interesting cor- 
respondence, of uncertain date, to which these 
compositions afterwards gave rise. 



Joannes Picus Mirandula, to Angelus Po- Pici oper4 
litianus. 252. 



" Having digested into five books those 
indifferent effusions of my muse, in which I 
trifled with my own loves, at an age when 
such levities are excusable ; I send you the 
first book, and design hereafter to submit the 
remainder to your revisal, provided I find you 
in the present instance a friend and not a flat- 
terer. For they come to you for the express 
purpose of receiving chastisement and cor- 
rection, and on condition that you spare nei- 
ther the "nail nor the obelisk" in the just ex- 
posure of their defects. Act therefore, the part 
of an upright, and not an unjust, — in other 
words, of a severe, and not an indulgent cen- 
sor. What, indeed, could be more inequita- 
ble than to deceive a friend who expects you 
to exercise the most unbounded freedom, in 
the detection of his errors. Neither am I so 
fastidiously delicate as to dread the blots and 
interpolations of a friendly hand ; nor, perhaps, 
can you, or any other person imagine, how 
little satisfied I am with the compositions in 
question; how fearful, where I feel the^most 
self-complacency, lest I should be found, as 




170 



Inter Politiani 
Ep. Lib. i. ep. 
4. 



MEMOIRS OF 

the poet says, a Suffenus. (/) Refuse not 
then your good offices, I entreat you, on so 
just and kind an occasion, to one who enter- 
tains for you the most friendly regard. Adieu,' 9 

Angelus Politianus, to Picns of Mirandula, 

" A pleasant conceit this of yours, thus to 
engage me in a contest with all your loves 
at once ; to demand from a person of no wrink- 
led front, that he should receive so beautiful 
an assemblage with such sternness and seve- 
rity 1 One single Cupid, as report says, could 
challenge Pan to the palaestra, and give him a 
fall, (g) How then is it possible for me to con- 
tend with Venus's whole train ? Such, however, 



(f) Suffenus, a silly poet, who was continually ad- 
miring and applauding his own contemptible productions. 

" Nimirum idem omnes fallimur; neque est quisquam 
Quern non in aliqua re videre Suffenum 
Possis. Suus cuique attributus est error ; 
Sed non videmus manticae quod in tergo est." 

Catulli ad Varum, Epig. 20. 

{g) Pan et Amor quondam lucta certare volentes, 

Deponunt calamos ille vel ille sacros ; 
Hie onus alarum — villosae nebridos ille, 

Projicit hie arcus — projicit ille pedum ; 
Turn liquido exutos artus perfundit olivo 

Cecropiaeque modum servat uterque waXns: 
Conseruere manus, totis conatibus ambo, 

Robore Pan fidens, dexteritate Puer. 
Aspera pugna fuit, primisque assultibus anceps ; 

Nunc Panaaiebant vincere, nunc Puerum. 
At demum elato prensavit cornua saltu, 

Panaque, qui vincit omnia, vicit Amor. 

JBerculis Stroza. inter Poet, Illust. Ital. Carm. torn. ix. 
p. 195. 



PICUS OF M1RANDULA. 171 

is the task you impose upon me : You, I say, 
Picus ! to whom [ can in justice refuse no- 
thing. I entreated therefore, a few of them 
to suffer my importunities awhile with pati- 
ence ; not that I assumed the character of a 
judge, so may I continue to share your friend- 
ship, but of Momus merely, who, it is said, 
found fault with the sandal of Venus, because 
he could discover no blemish in her person. 
I have therefore, blotted a few verses ; not 
because I disapproved of them, but because 
being of equestrian rank only, they are infe- 
rior to the rest, which are of the patrician or 
senatorial ; plebeians I found none : nor with 
regard to these, believe me, do I apprehend 
in you a want of judgment, but of inclina- 
tion merely ; you doubtless thought your Na- 
so's countenance more interesting (as they 
say) with the mole for its foil. 

Herewith you will receive them back, ac- 
companied by a stoic attendant, (h) whom I 
wish they may consent to chastise, in such 
measure only, as the law of retaliation allows ; 
and not make of him an absolute laughing- 
stock. Be this as it may, the supercilious old 
gentleman will have sufficient occasion for the 
exercise of his patience, without challenging 



(h) Politian's translation of the Enchiridion of Epictetus. 
— " I intreat you/' says Picus in a prior letter, " to send 
me your Epictetus ; as much of your translation of Homer 
as you have already completed ; the verses you have writ- 
ten in your native language relating to Giuliano de' Medici ; 
and all your Latin compositions, on whatever subject. Un- 
derstand this request as preferred with the most earnest soli- 
citude, since my desire to be possessed of them is of the 
most impatient kind." (VideEp. ejus inter Epist. Politiani : et 
oper. Pici, p, 252. J 

Z 2 



172 MEMOIRS OF 

Jupiter to shower down misfortunes on his 
head. Bithus and Bacchius could not be more 
equally matched, (i) The other compositions 
you ask for, cannot endure the light. Conti- 
nue to entertain for me that friendship which 
will ever be returned with reciprocal regard. 
Adieu" 

pici. oper. p. Joannes Picus of Mirandula, to Angelas 

Politianus. 

<c A politer or more cordial reception, than 
my loves lately met with from you, they 
confess they never experienced ; and even 
upon the friendly chastisement they received 
from your hand, they highly congratulate 
themselves, and present you their acknow- 
ledgments ; for who, by such a hand, would 
not gladly consent to perish. In this, howe- 
ver, they find themselves chagrined, that you 
have handled them with too great indulgence ; 
and even suspect, that love himself hath 
made you blind to the defects of these loves 
of your friend ; a consideration, which, highly 
as they respect your profound judgment, in- 
clines them to be rather distrustful of it in 
their own case. They reject such doubts, 



(i) Bithus and Bacchius, two celebrated gladiators 
of equal age and prowess. Hence the proverb, " Bithus 
contra Bacchium." Thus Horace : 

*.*. uti non 

Compositus melius cum Bitho Bacchius." 



" Hi cum multos interfecissent, tandem congressi, mutuis vul- 
\ neribus se confoderunt." (Car. Stephan. Dict,JIistor. fyc.J 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 173 

however, and begin to struggle with their 
chains. Impatient of confinement, they are 
confidently clamorous for liberty, and chal- 
lenge public scrutiny. 

But how shall I describe the jocularity of 
your own Epictetus? O incident truly di- 
verting, and worthy of a smile from Cato ! 
Scarcely had he passed the threshold, when, 
baring his bosom, behold, says he, the obeli, 
or (if you do not understand Greek) the sa- 
gittce. Lo ! I stand prepared, if any here is 
bold enough to retaliate. Who could refrain 
from laughing, to see the grave old stoic, in 
so jocular a vein. \Ve abstained, however, 
from hostilities, as well because he threatened 
to return blow for blow, as from a conviction 
that his aged hide was sufficiently callous to 
defy such feeble strokes as we were capable of 
inflicting. We therefore received the old gen- 
tleman with all due respect ; who taking his 
seat amongst us, commenced a lecture on 
morals ; and that too in the Latin language ; 
not so much because he was addressing natives 
of Latium ; (for there were in the company 
those who understood Greek) as that through 
your assistance, he had acquired a wonderful 
fluency in that language. And so far, I as- 
sure you, was he from losing his labour, that 
before he desisted, he completely converted 
us all from peripatetics to stoics : nay, so ena- 
moured were we become of his favourite apa- 
thy, that you might have seen a company, 
late of the most delicate irritability, rendered 
on a sudden of all others the most tolerant : 
capable of being assailed indeed by others, 
but hurt only by ourselves ; altogether disin- 
clined to struggle with destiny ; and, with 



174 MEMOIRS OF 

regard to things not in our own controul, 
perfectly resigning our own wills to that of 
the Gods : never arraigning, never accusing 
them ; never offended ; never expostulating 
with them ; incapable of being enslaved or sub- 
dued. We became philosophers in action, not 
merely in profession : suspecting, as becomes 
noviciates, ourselves as our only adversaries. 
Careless of the opinion of others, and of every 
thing of an external nature, w r e pass them by, 
with disregard, rather than with contempt. We 
make provision for the day, as wayfaring men 
prepare quarters. We occupy these things in 
fine, we are not occupied with them. We 
become enamoured of silence, and utter no 
observation which has not been well digested. 
To ourselves, we never, — to others, rarely, 
give occasion to smile. And to comprize 
Epictetus in one word, we have abundantly 
learned to endure adversity, and to abstain 
from pleasurable indulgences. Observe, how 
exactly we have adjusted our lives to the pre- 
cepts of your own philosopher. Observe, how 
suddenly in this point, moreover, we are be- 
come such thorough stoics, as to charge it on 
our recollection, that man retrocedes when- 
ever he ceases to advance. If I was surprized 
to remark such a change in the rest of the 
audience, much rather was I, to perceive it 
in myself; who have hitherto been much con- 
versant in the Lyceum, and the Academy ; 
but never in the Portico. For, so much am I 
overcome by the reasonings of your aged sage, 
that I am not merely a partial, but an entire 
convert to his opinions." 

The juvenile poems of Picus were not, 
however, as before observed, destined to sur- 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 175 

vive to the present day. Their loss is not 
indeed to be attributed to time or casualty : 
they perished by the hand that gave them 
birth. Politian, in a subsequent epistle, makes PoUtiani Ep. 
mention of this circumstance with mingled Llb# u ep " 7 * 
pleasantry and regret : "I am informed of 
the fate of your early compositions on amatory 
subjects, that you have committed them to 
the flames ; delicately apprehensive, perhaps, 
lest they might injure your own reputation, 
or the morals of others. For I cannot per- 
suade myself that you destroyed them as Plato 
is said to have done his, from any notion of 
their being unworthy the public eye ; since 
as far as my recollection serves me, nothing 
could be more terse, more melodious, more 
poetical. As you were wont to term them 
your loves, I lately entertained myself with 
composing the following Greek epigram upon 
these little personages, so harshly consigned 
to the devouring element by your own hands. 



EIS TON niKON. 

riOAAAKI TolsuGsij ^)Xe^0»$ 9' viro ILxo; ip«T4;v 
Owjc £tX» ttpripw, vaiilcc. tfa,Qti\iQ' oTrXa, 

H^sv Ifjiov crttfov Xajuwcwi XrjioWj. 
£vv oaursj juap-vj/aj a./xEy*iva p^spvJpta $n<riv 

Tews xEupaij, juecvt*) ilpGaXn Tri/pxaia. 
Ka» Trupi ^Xe|e to Trup, Ti S'u cloves avrov IfvTi; 

Toy Uikov pao-m eVettetoo-Se TTpojuoy ; 






Incens'd at love's wing'd legion, and the smart 
Of many a shaft that has transflx'd his heart, 



176* MEMOIRS OF 

Bows, quivers, arrows, seizing, Pic us dooms 
To vengeful flames, and in one pile consumes. 
Yet, more severe, themselves with ruthless bands 
The victor binds ; he binds their feeble hands. 
Heat, heat allays ; and fires extinguish fires : 
And on his arms each fluttering pow'r expires. 
Rash loves ! thus, thus chastisM, your folly shews 
How dangerous to provoke the pride of every Muse. 



With the commencement of the year 1484, 
the literary career and interesting migrations 
of Picus become more distinct and conspicu- 
ous. Born, as aforesaid, A. D. 1463, he now 
approached the age of manhood. At this time 
the classic vales of Arno again attracted his 
migratory steps ; and Florence, rich at once 
in the rarest treasures of learning, and in the 
presence of 'his most valued friends, received 
with pleasure so desirable an accession to her 
illustrious academists. One principal object 
of Picus, amongst others, in this visit to Flo- 
rence, was to perfect himself in the Greek ; 
as appears from a letter addressed to him by 
Hieronymus Donatus, (k) dated from Venice, 



(k) Hieronymus Donatus, a Venetian of senatorial 
rank, united in his own character whatever could adorn the 
scholar and the gentleman; but the multiplicity of his public 
engagements left him comparatively but little leisure for the 
cultivation of letters. He filled with great dignity some of 
the most conspicuous state employments. He was frequently 
deputed, either as the representative of the republic, to those 
cities over which it possessed jurisdiction, or on foreign em- 
bassies and missions ; in which lie never failed to support, in 
a high degree, the authority, or advance the interests of his 
country. This is less to be wondered at, since with a well 
cultivated understanding, great political experience, and a 
profound knowledge of the interests of the state, he com- 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 177 

17 Kal. Januar. 1484. Speaking, towards 
the conclusion of this letter, of their common 



bined very elegant manners, and the most captivating ad- 
dress: all which advantages were heightened by a majestic 
stature and deportment, and every personal accomplishment. 
(Joviusin E/ogiis.J 

Among a variety of testimonies which might be adduced 
to illustrate these assertions, that of Antiquarius is more 
peculiarly apposite to the present occasion. Writing to 
Politian, at a time when Hieronymus filled a diplomatic 
character at Milan, on behalf of his republic, " I deem myself 
peculiarly fortunate" (says he) " in being fated to live in an 
age in which, men who seem to have descended from hea- 
ven for this very purpose, so happily conspire together by 
their literary exertions, to rescue science from its ruins : 
insomuch that where the Phoenix Pic us, and birds of like 
happy omen preside, those of a more ignoble kind dare no 
longer obtrude their obstreperous loquaciousness. I have 
the singular felicity to be personally acquainted with Her- 
molaus. I have been delighted with hearing him descant on 
fate, on chance, on fortune. Subjects, which soar beyond 
the comprehension of the vulgar, and are generally handled 
by those of the peripatetic school, with elaborate abstruse- 
ness, became, when he spoke, so luminous, so perspicuous, 
that the whole series of celestial causes seemed like the 
links of one amazing chain, visibly suspended before his 
auditory. I remarked with admiration, that enchanting ur- 
banity, that polished address, that intellect actuated as it 
were by a celestial afflatus, which indicated to us the pre- 
sence of a kind of terrestrial divinity. With Hieronymus 
my intercourse has not yet been frequent : for though his 
conversation enriched with the stores of literature, is pecu- 
liarly attractive ; though I am conscious he is as accessible 
as a person constantly disposed to acts of benevolence and 
friendship can be, yet the reserve necessary to the public 
station I fill, deters me, to my great regret, from availing 
myself of his ornamental and instructive society to the extent 
I wish. I take, however, a nearer survey of him, as often 
as he appears at court ; and am charmed with those delight- 
ful sallies of wit, which he knows how to temper with the 
gravity and prudence that may be expected from one des- 
tined to fill the highest stations of a powerful republic. But 
I feel a kind of anxious solicitude, (such as no doubt becomes 
so insignificant an individual as myself) lest those very men 
A A 



I 



178 MEMOIRS OF 

friend, Hermolaus Barbarus ; — c< that society 
of his," says he, " which you so greatly envy 



to whom the Roman tongue owes the restoration of its pris- 
tine splendor, should one day become the instruments of 
vesting the whole dominion of Italy in one single republic. 
For the Venetians, conscious of the jealousy which their 
proud spirit and aspiring views have heretofore excited in 
the neighbouring states, through the haughty language and 
ostentatious ignorance of former diplomatic characters, have 
recently adopted a new and wise expedient. They now 
depute on public embassies, persons of the most conciliating 
manners, and familiar address. Laying open those lucrative 
and honourable employments, formerly conferred on the aged 
only, to young statesmen imbued with the graces of philoso- 
phy and erudition, it is incredible how efficaciously they 
advance their interests. Since, however, empire is dispensed 
by destiny alone, let me no longer be anxious on this head; 
but rather congratulate our mutual studies, which have to 
boast such powerful and distinguished assertors as your- 
selves." (Vol. Ep. Lib. iii. ep. 2 1. J 

The intercourse between Hieronymus Donatus and Picus 
of Mirandula, having experienced a temporary interruption, 
appears to have been revived by a letter from the former ; 
which gave occasion to one from Picus in return, pleasingly 
declarative of the early accomplishments of Hieronymus. 
" Your letter," says Picus, •* equally fraught with eloquence 
and erudition, renews in me the recollection of that delight 
which I formerly received from your conversation when I 
studied at Padua ; as often as opportunity threw in my way 
a gratification of which I was always eagerly desirous. Nor 
did I at that time, fail to remark in you a mind endowed by 
nature with every winning grace; polished by study with 
every species of erudition ; and exuberantly stored with all 
the virtues." — In charging himself with culpable neglect 
for omitting to cultivate so interesting a correspondence, 
Picus adds a remark well worthy of observation. — M But 
thus" says he, " it is ; — thus it too frequently happens to my- 
self. The free and unrestrained practicability of accomplish- 
ing those ends which commend themselves to our best wishes, 
is apt to make us supine and negligent. Whilst we omit to- 
day that which we think can easily be performed to-mor- 
row, the year at length revolves, and we still slumber under 
i the drowsy influence of procrastination." He proceeds to 

thank him for the stimulus of his friendly and agreeable letter ; 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 179 

me, know that I value almost as I do your 
friendship : yours, of whose talents and at- 



and promises to be in future more vigilant in performing the 
duties of an active correspondent. (Vide Pici opera, p. 252. J 
This letter of Picus also proves, that Hieronymus in his 
youthful days cultivated poetry with success. — " Your ver- 
ses," says P cus, " were for a considerable time in my pos- 
session when I resided at Padua; and I remember I was 
highly delighted with the beauty of the thoughts, and the 
harmonious polish of the composition." But few, however, 
and those perhaps, the least interesting monuments of the 
genius of Donalus remain. The verses in question, as well 
as the poem he composed in praise of Politian, like those of 
many other contemporary scholars, have unfortunately been 
involved in the silence of oblivion. ( Vide Miscellanea Polit. 
Cap. xc.J 

Hieronymus Donatus, in the year 1510, was deputed on 
an embassy to Pope Julius II. and reconciled the republic of 
Venice to his Holiness. " Attulisse siquidem videtur in 
omnem actionem mores lectissimos, et praeclaris disciplinarum 
omnium luminibus illustres ; quibus postea, Julium Secundum 
Veneto nomini graviter iratum, et conspirantibus externis 
Regibus saevo bello Majestatis injuriam vindicantem, non 
lenivent modo, sed impetrata pace, ictoque fcedere conver- 
terit." (JoviusinElog.) The editors of Noveau Dictiormaire 
Histor. relate (but it appears not or what authority) a bon 
mot of his on this occasion. " The Pope demanding of him 
by what grant or charter the republic of Venice founded its 
pretended right to the sovereignty of the Adriatic sea ;" 
Hieronymus replied, " that his Holiness would find it on the 
back of that instrument by which Constantino III. gave to 
Pope Sylvester the city of Rome, and the other appendages 
of the ecclesiastical state." " It was" add our authors, "the 
worst species of heresy to deny the existence of this pre- 
tended instrument; and so late as 14-78, some persons were 
burned at Strasburg for openly doubting of it. 

Hieronymus did not live to return from this embassy to 
Venice. He died at Rome, A. D. 1513. " Monumenta 
ejus ingenii digna luce, quod publicis occupationibus absolvi 
nequiverant, filii suppresserunt — edito libro adversus Gras- 
cos vanissime de sacrorum principatu cum Romano pontifice 
contendentes. Legitur etiam Libellus Alexandri Aphrodisei, 
de Intellectu e Graeco in Latinum, puriter ac apposite tra= 
A A Q 



180 MEMOIRS OF 

tainments I entertain so high an opinion, that 
I deem nothing so prodigious as to be beyond 
their reach ; especially as I understand your 
present object at Florence is to perfect your- 
self in the Greek language. This project of 
yours I cannot sufficiently extol, for, 

te uhv yXvxvrzpov ry new hhvou." 

The same letter gave rise to the correspon- 
dence of Donatus and Politian. " Allow me," 
proceeds the former, " to envy you the soci- 
ety of Politian ; a person of such consummate 
eloquence, of a genius so fertile; whose "Rus- 
ticus" I have lately perused. I esteem him the 
glory of the age, and, 

Make him, I entreat you, such assurances in 
my name, as could be expected from a person 
most amicably disposed towards him. I solicit 
your good offices, to introduce me to his 
friendship, relying on your obliging disposi- 
tion, and not unconscious that to be recom- 
mended "tuv Mao-ojv Kcznvpu qo\Kdity " by a per- 

Picioper.pas- s on of your extraordinary erudition, will be 

27 >■ greatly for my advantage." 

How effectually Picus acquitted himself in 
the execution of his friend's commission, we 
learn from Politian himself. That scholar, 
never indifferent to the voice of praise, seems 



ductus." (Jovius ut supra.) Some letters of his may be 
found amongst those of Picus and Politian ; and Jovius men- 
tions others as extant, but says not where they are to be met 
\ with. 






PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 181 

to have been more than ordinarily elated by 
commendations proceeding- from a pen so re- 
spectable as that of Donatus. Yet he thus 
affects to disguise his exultation, by a veil of 
modesty too artificially woven to answer the 
purpose of concealment: " In a letter of _ .. . ... 

* i . , - . i«i Politiani Ep. 

yours to ricus, amongst other things which Lib. h. ep. 8. 
gave me great pleasure, I am particularly in- 
cited to write to you, by the judgment you 
therein pass upon my " Rusticus :" a judgment 
which I wish were as true as it is honourable. 
For my part, I must consider it less as the 
offspring of your critical sagacity, than as a 
proof of your good-will for the author. I 
should estimate my own merits very falsely 
indeed, were I inclined to measure them rather 
by the praise of one whose excess of kindness 
biasses his judgment, than by my own con- 
victions, unless so far under the delusion of • 
what Horace terms the ' ' amabilis insania, " com- 
mon to poets, as never to bring myself to the 
test, or take a view of my own imperfections." ? olit - e p« Lib. 

It may, however, be presumed, that Poli- M * ep ' ' 
tian had sufficiently informed himself of the 
peculiar taste and character of the person to 
whom he wrote, and whose friendship it was 
his object to secure. " I already begin to 
reap" (thus Donatus expresses himself in reply) 
' ' the most valuable and agreeable fruits of your 
amicable regard for me ; richer or more ho- 
nourable I cannot hope to receive from any 
other quarter. The transcendent erudition with 
which your letter abounds, is all yours ; the 
result of your own prodigious talents and inde- 
fatigable studies : the benevolence it breathes, 
I owe to the kind offices of Picus. Long 
since, believe me, you possessed my esteem ; 






182 MEMOIRS OF 

but that connecting intercourse was wanting, 
which I hope by the medium of epistolary 
correspondence will henceforward subsist be- 
tween us. You may possibly recollect on 
occasion of your own visit to Venice about 
five years since, reciting to Hermolaus, and 
to myself (then dejected and wearing the sa- 
ble garb of grief for a parent and an uncle de- 
ceased) those golden verses which you com- 
posed on the sacrilegious and bloody assassina- 
tion of Giuliano de' Medici. Since that time 
I never hear mention made of men of erudi- 
tion, without thinking especially and princi- 
pally of you. Great, as from that period I 
have ever esteemed you, greater still I more 
recently find you in your very elegant " Rus- 
ticus." Be assured, my regard and goodwill 
are so deeply rooted that no time can undermine, 
no violence can shake them. The delightful 
fruits of our friendship I hope to reap, not 
only in the perusal of your letters, but occa- 
sionally also, of the charming productions of 
your muse, and as often as I am favoured 
with such a gratification I shall repeat with 
peculiar triumph those beautiful lines of The- 
ocritus : 

TAS fjioi itc&s iin TXuog ^o/aoj' are yocp cttvoj 
10 "*' ° UT >lU V' £ £ a,nva5 y^VKtfultpov, are /ouXwo-atj 

Av0£a, oo-a-Qv tpci Mw<ra* UoTanccvit ty"hot,i. 



May my roof echo with her dulcet strain ! 
Nor early spring, nor slumbers gentle chain. 
Nor flow'rs mellifluous to the industrious bee, 
So grateful, as Politian's song to me." 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 183 

Within a few months after his arrival at 
Florence, Picus composed his well known pa- 
negyrical critique on the Italian poems of 
Lorenzo de' Medici. It is drawn up in the 
epistolary form, and addressed to Lorenzo 
himself. Picus commences with observing, . 

that these elegant compositions, the produc- opera, p. 236. 
tions of Lorenzo's juvenile pen, fully approve 
themselves the legitimate offspring of the 
Muses and of the Graces, but betray no 
evidence of the juvenility of their author. 
" What ear," says he, " is not sensibly de- 
lighted by the tuneful connection of your 
verses, by numbers and measures to which the 
dancing Graces seem to move ? In composi- 
tions characterized by harmony so sweetly 
full, by a modulation so perfect, who cannot 
distinguish the Muses singing in concert ? In 
a gentility of expression so unaffected, — that 
sprightly turn of thought, — that wit of attic 
flavour, — ornaments so natural, — simplicity so 
admirable, — happy disposition, — sentiments 
full and pregnant, and drawn from the inmost 
recesses of philosophy, who can discover the 
young man ? My name, I confess, is not en- 
rolled in the Album of criticism, nor would I 
exalt myself to the censorial chair of a judge 
of composition ; yet if without being suspected 
of adulation, I might be allowed to speak my 
genuine sentiments, I would boldly affirm, 
that there is not one of our ancient writers of 
vernacular poesy, whom you have not far sur- 
passed. " 

Afterwards, instituting a special compari- 
son between Lorenzo, and the two confessedly 
brightest glories of Tuscan song, that had 
preceded him, Petrarch and Dante ; Picus ob- 



184 MEMOIRS OF 

serves, in general, that respectable critics of 
that or the preceding age remark in Petrarch 
a defect in matter and thought ; in Dante, an 
imperfection of language. The former fre- 
quently introducing into his poems sentiments 
of common and trivial origin, possessed never- 
theless the art of adorning them with all the 
glow and colouring of words. Dante, engaged 
on subjects of the sublimest and most dignified 
kind, and which naturally led to the intro- 
duction of the noblest thoughts uttered by St. 
Augustin, Aquinas, and other similar authors, 
in whose writings he was deeply conversant, 
is yet, frequently harsh and dissonant in his 
language, and betrays much of the rusticity 
of a less polished age. Lorenzo, on the con- 
trary, combines all the dignity of thought and 
nerve of expression found in the one, with 
the sweetness, polish, and other ornamental 
graces of style inherent in the other : inso- 
much, he affirms, that it were difficult to 
determine, whether in bis poems, the subjects 
derive more ornaments from the language, or 
the language from the sentiments. 

Proceeding to scrutinize more at length 
the minuter beauties and blemishes discernible 
in the works of the celebrated fathers of Tus- 
can poesy, Pic us enters into distinct compa- 
risons of their poetical merits, and those of 
Lorenzo ; the result of which is generally in 
favour of his friend. " They too," he adds, 
le composed their verses in the shades of re- 
tirement, with all the advantages of tranquil- 
lity and complete seclusion from public scenes ; 
you, amidst popular tumult, the hurry of a 
court, the din of the forum, the distractions 
of care, storms and tempests. To woo the 



PICUS OF MIRAXDULA. 185 

Muses was their professed and sole employ; 
to you, an amusement merely. What was 
their labour, was your respite from fatigue ; 
and in the hours of mental remission, it is 
your glory to have attained a pitch of excel- 
lence, which, by the constant exertion of 
every nerve of intellect and genius, they have 
scarcely been able to reach." 

Suffice it thus compendiously to have men- 
tioned a piece of criticism which is perhaps 
better known to later ages, than any other of 
the works of Picus ; especially as, though he 
assigns reasons for the conclusions he draws, 
with critical exactness, he has unfortunately 
omitted to enrich his parallel with passages from 
the works of the respective authors whose me- 
rits he compares. The poetical productions of 
Petrarch and of Dante indeed still survive, 
but a great part of those of Lorenzo, are lost ; 
and such as remain, with the exception of a 
few, brought to light by Mr. Roscoe, in his 
admirable work, are from their extreme rarity 
little known. Without assuming such high 
ground as Picus, Mr. Roscoe has indeed drawn 
a masterly and interesting character of the 
poetry of his hero, who will indubitably con- 
tinue henceforward to maintain his station 
amongst the highest order of Tuscan poets. 
W r ere Lorenzo to live again, can it be doubted 
whether he would content himself with a seat 
on Parnassus confessedly so elevated, yet apart 
from the ranks of invidious competition ? As 
a scholar, as a statesman, as a distinguished 
friend of science and the arts, as the glorious 
patron of genius and learning, as one of those 
few, to whom the world is chiefly indebted 
for the restoration of letters, he has too many 

B B 






180 MEMOIRS OF 



indisputable claims to immortality, to justify 






the risking of his fame on a doubtful contest 
for poetical precedency with Petrarch and 
Dante. If Lorenzo's personal knowledge of 
the arts made him respectable, he appears still 
greater as an encourager of artists : if he was 
conspicuous for his acquaintance with the 
languages of Greece and Rome, and for his 
critical and philosophical attainments, he be- 
comes more an object of our admiration as the 
founder of academies, and the remunerator of 
professors. Nor is it otherwise with regard 
to his poetical qualifications ; they were such 
as might have conferred a portion of fame 
equal to the ambition of an inferiour man ; 
but it was Lorenzo's high destiny, rather to 
foster poets by his munificence, to protect 
them by his influence, (/) and to animate 
them by his example, than to dispute with 
them the wreath of poetic excellence. 



(i) To him might justly be applied the words of Ho- 
race, 

"Te doctarum hederae praemia frontiurh 
Dis miscent superis." 

Politian's apostrophe on another occasion is worthy of Lo- 
renzo, to whom it is more glorious, to derive immortality 
from the strains of bards whom he cherished, than from his 
own. 

E tu, ben nato Laur/ sotto il cui velo 
Fiorenza Iieta in pace si riposa, 
Ne teme i venti o '1 minacciar del cielo, 
O Giove irato in vista piu crucciosa 
Accogli al ombra del tuo santo ostelo 
La voce umil, tremante, e paurosa ; 
Principio, e fin, di tutte le mie voglie, 
Che sol vivon d' odor delle tue foglie. 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 187 

At the close of the same year, Picus ad- 
dressed a letter to Hermolaus Barbarus, which 
evinces that his present sojourn at Florence, 



Deh sara mai che con piu alte note, 
Se non contrasti al mio voler fortuna, 
Lo spirto delle membre, che divote 
Ti fur da* fati, insin gia dalla cuna, 
Risuoni te dai Numidi a Boote, 
Dagl' Indi, al mar che '1 nostro ciel imbruna, 
E, posto '1 nido in tuo felice ligno, 
Di voco augel divenli un bianco cigno ? 

Nor was this the only occasion on which Lorenzo was 
complimented under the emblem of a tree whose spreading 
branches gave shelter to the arts, to science, and to poesy. 
The following verses, which at least deserve to be ranked 
among the productions of the minor poets of the day, appear 
to have been addressed to a person who was engaged in 
revising the text of the te Noctes Attics" of Aulus 
Gellius. (Vide Carm. Poetar. Illustr. ItaU torn, xi.) 

ALEXII LAPACCINI FLORENTINI, ad CAROLUM ALDO- 

BRANOUM. 

Dum nos paterni funeris uberes 
Novasque semper, Carole, lacrimas 
Siccare nequidquam studemus, 
Illecebris genialis agri : 

Tu, Gellianis Noctibus interim, 
Jam vindicatis a carie et situ, 
Caliginosae oblivioni 
Eripis, haud sine laude, nomen. 

Haec te laborum tot vigilum manet 
Condigna merces, hasc tibi prsemia 
Debentur ! evades labantis, 
Perniciem, moriturus, aevi. 

Quamvis nee O ! te, Laure ! superstite 
Sit defuturus nunc honor artibus 
Sacrisque sortitis patronum 
Yatibus, et meliora saecla, 

BB2 



A 



• 



188 MEMOIRS OF 

whilst of a literary, was but of a temporary 

^ ci °Pjr r ' nature. " The works which you desire to 

have," says Picus, "shall be sent as soon as 






Agnovit in Te nomen et os avi 
Urbs nostra, tanti vindicis immemor 
Futura nunquam ; agnoscet olim 
Tempora per te eadem beata. 

At Nos, et agro non inamabili 
Atque his serenis, Carole, Noctibus 
Solabimur longas paterni 
Interea tumuli querelas. 



While o'er an honour'd Parent's bier 
We ceaseless shed the filial tear, 



And in these green retreats in vain, 
Would soothe the memory of our pain ; 



You from the sullied Gellian page 
Deterge the rust of cankering age ; 
And teach the illumin'd Attic line 
With all its pristine grace to shine. 

As thus his *• Vigils" you renew, 
Lo ! fame prepares a wreathe for you ; 
And bids, though destined to the tomb, 
Your brow with deathless honours bloom. 

Reclin'd beneath our Laurel's shade, — 
Oh ! might that laurel never fade ! 
Ev'n now, the artist, critic, bard, 
Nor fears neglect, nor doubts reward. 

In thee, Lorenzo ! proud we view 
Thy grandsire's virtues beam anew ; 
And blest through thee, a future race 
The kindred lineaments shall trace. 

Meantime amid this rural scene, 
Thy Gel li us, with his "Nights" serene, 
Our solac'd thoughts shall kindly turn 
From sorrow, and a father's urn. 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 18J 

I return to my own library ; at present I am 
employed in exploring the literary collections 
of others. Nor have 1 any cause to regret 
my journey, so many treatises have I found 
at Florence, both Greek and Latin, which 
are highly interesting to polite literature, and 
philosophical erudition.' About the same 
time Pic us appears to have acquired a new 
correspondent in the person of Alexander Cor- 
tesius, who had written to him a letter, con- Picioper< 
ceived in very handsome terms, for the double pag.271. 
purpose of soliciting his friendship, and ob- 
taining from him a copy of his Critique on 
the poems of Lorenzo, which had already ex- 
cited so much attention amongst the learned 
as to become an interesting subject of curio- 
sity. Thus much may be inferred from the Picioper . 
answer of Picus which is yet extant. Not- pag. 259. 
withstanding the enquirer into the literary 
history of this period cannot but be familia- 
rized with the praises of Picus which flow so 
copiously from tbe pens of all those scholars 
who maintained an epistolary intercourse with 
him, yet the florid panegyric contained in a 
subsequent letter of Alexander Cortesius will 
scarcely be perused by him without emotions 
of surprize. " At no time of my life, " says Cor- 
tesius, on this occasion, " have I experienced pidoper. 
greater pleasure than of late, on receiving p*g. 271. 
your letters. Highly as I had conceived of 
you, you have, I acknowledge, surpassed my 
expectations : so surpassed them, that I think 
your celebrity, far and widely as it is diffused, 
is yet confined within too narrow bounds. 
Let us discuss this point with frankness, flat- 
tery apart, which is utterly incompatible with 
noble minds. What is there in you that is 



i 



190 MEMOIRS OF 

not extraordinary ? what that commands not 
admiration ? How many qualifications, that 
would separately suffice to render a man illus- 
trious, are combined in your person. From 
every individual, you have, if I may so speak, 
purloined his peculiar excellency ; and though 
your progenitors attained that pitch of great- 
ness, which could scarce be expected from 
any but your descendants, yet such are your 
accomplishments, that the splendour you re- 
flect on them exceeds that which they have 
transmitted to you. With others, respect and 
authority are the meed of old age ; but youth 
enhances your dignity. Those difficulties 
which others surmount by time, you overleap 
by your own invincible energies. Your talents 
are, in my estimation, beyond all parallel ; 
and while I search the Grecian eulogists, I 
find nothing equal to your praise. At most 
we may imagine, but cannot hope to behold 
your like. Let the learned allow me to say it 
without offence, — Pic us singly far surpasses 
them all. Picus, on whom nature hath been 
so lavish of her endowments, that she may 
justly stand amazed at the effects of her own 
prodigality. " 

After proceeding in the same elevated style 
of panegyric, Cortesius concludes his letter 
with the following exclamation : Oh ! who 
will transport me into the midst of your aca- 
demy, 

" — , et ingenti ramorum conteget umbra ? w 

especially, 

" Quod ccelum hoc Mars solus habel, non ullus aratro 
\ Dignus honos ; squallent abductis arva colonis, 

Et curvae rigidum falces vertuntur in ensem." 



P1CUS OF MIRANDULA. 191 

" But a truce with these graver thoughts. 
Do you out of the preceding " quisquilice" 
gather the proofs of my attachment, and in- 
stead of slighting, consent to return it? I 
will transmit to you my sentiments concern- 
ing your panegyric on Lorenzo, from home, 
as soon after my arrival there, as leisure will 
permit. " 

Early in the ensuing spring, (April, 1485) 
Hermolaus Barbarus writes to Picus, who still 
prosecuted his Greek studies at Florence. Af- 
ter apologizing for a silence of some length, 
Hermolaus proceeds to thank his youthful 
friend for the flattering proofs of affection, 
and honourable encomiums of his talents and 
literary productions, which are so predomi- 
nant in ail the letters written by Picus, either 
to himself, or other Venetian scholars. But 
the letter in question derives its chief impor- 
tance from its having given rise to that inge- _ 
nious defence of the scholastic writers, 
which Picus subsequently composed. A pro- 
duction which, whether it be considered in a 
serious light, or simply as a playful effort of 
his pen, and a mere academical exercise of 
ingenuity, is certainly the most interesting of 
all his juvenile, and indeed to modern readers, 
of any other of his compositions that remain ; 
and furnishes a surprising testimony of his 
extensive reading, exuberance of wit, versa- 
tility of talents, rapidity of invention, and 
the facility with which he wrote on any sub- 
ject that employed his thoughts. 

" What you wrote," continues Hermolaus, 
cl to our friend, and desired him to commu- 
nicate to me, respecting the plan of your pre- 
sent studies, afforded us both the highest 



1^2 MEMOIRS OF 

pleasure. I congratulated our age on the 
possession of a nobleman, who, whilst his at- 
tainments are such, that he is scarcely igno- 
rant of any thing, is yet as indefatigable in 
his application, as if he had every thing to 
learn, I see you already an excellent poet, 
and a consummate orator. I observe you, 
previously versed in the aristotelic philosophy, 
now become a proficient in the platonic. As 
to Greek literature, the only department of 
science in which you were deficient, and with- 
out which your other attainments would be 
nugatory, I perceive you have not only ac- 
quired, but exhausted it : this too, with such 
ease and celerity, that you can scarcely per- 

Ssuade either yourself or others that you were 
ever a stranger to it. I might exhort you to 
persevere with undiminished ardour in the 
study of the Greek, until it becomes as fami- 
liar to you as the Latin ; but to you, such 
exhortations are superfluous ; and, in reality, 
it is but wasting words to give advice to those 
who are wiser than ourselves. One thing I 
am sure you are aware of, that no writer in 
any of the past ages has left the least specimen 
of pure and correct Latin ity, who was unim- 
bued with Grecian lore. For indeed, I cannot 
think of classing in the rank of Latin authors 
those Germans and Teutonics, whose writings, 
never studied to any useful purpose, are now 
happily forgotten, or if perused in our day, 
perused to the torture and reproach of their 
admirers. They are no less deservedly, than 
generally condemned, as a tribe of barbarians, 
and loaded with appellations far more dis- 
graceful than oblivion itself. Some good 
things, it may be urged, they have said ; and 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 193 

some of them were by no means destitute of 
genius, learning, and other estimable quali- 
fications. I shall not at present attempt to 
disprove this ; though I am not prepared to 
admit it. But is it not a polished and elegant, 
at least a classical and chaste style, which 
confers immortal reputation on an author? 
And some even of the christian writers, both 
in the Greek and Latin languages are not de- 
ficient in this respect. Unless indeed a paint- 
er, a statuary, or other artist is to be praised, 
merely because the materials he works upon 
are costly and valuable. Unless Chaerilus and 
Maevius, if they had handled the same sub- 
jects as Virgil and Homer, ought, on that 
account, to have been placed by all critics in 
the rank of poets. Surely, Chaerilus and Mae- 
vius, on whatever topics they had written, 
would still have been Chaerilus and Maevius ; 
nor would the former have ever produced the 
Iliad ; the latter the iEneid, or vice versa. 
Excuse these jests upon such truly ridiculous 
and contemptible personages, who have al- 
ready led me too far from my subject. But 
to return. You no longer embrace Greek 
literature as a scholar, but as a professor, nor 
can any other person, in whatsoever walk of 
science, more honourably, or more fully ve- 
rify the well known adage, 

" multos discipulos meliores esse prseceptoribus :" 

or, as it is better expressed in the Greek iambic, 



C C 



194 BIEMOIRS OF 

Joannes Pkus Mirandula, to Hermolaus Bar- 

pici oper. p. barus. 

238. 

" I can no more forbear to express, my 
dear Hermolaus, on all suitable occasions, 
than I can to conceive such sentiments of 
you, as I am bound to form of a person in 
whom so many individual excellencies are 
united. Would I possessed a reach of con- 
ception more adequate to your merits, and a 
strength and flow of language to do them more 
ample justice. Politian and I have repeatedly 
perused those letters with which you have fa- 
voured ourselves and others ; and so does each, 
successively, vie with the preceding ; so many 
new beauties unfold themselves as we read; 
that we scarcely find a momentary interval to 
breathe from our exclamations of applause. I 
have indeed, felt the force of that eloquence 
which enables you so powerfully to move and 
persuade at pleasure, on various former occa- 
sions ; but never more sensibly than in your 
last letter ; in which you are so severe upon a 
certain description of philosophers. Be assured 
this censure of yours had its due weight. I 
was filled with regret and confusion, on a 
retrospect of my own studies. Six whole years 
have I been conversant with these very bar- 
barians. Better, I exclaimed, to have been 
totally idle, than thus laboriously employed to 
no purpose. Why have I thus lavished upon 
Aquinas, Scot us, Albertus, Aver roes, the 
flower of my age ! the midnight oil ! Doubt- 
less, so much time and labour bestowed upon 
good authors would have produced the hap- 
piest fruits. 



N 



PICUS OF M1RANDULA. 1$5 

Yet, thought I, desirous of consoling my- 
self, were any of them to come again from 
the shades, is it possible that men so dexterous 
in argument should have absolutely nothing 
to say in their own defence. Perhaps one of 
the more fluent among them, defending his 
own barbarism, as little like a barbarian as 
possible, might address you to the following 
effect. 

We have lived renowned, Hermolaus ! 
and shall still live : not in the schools of gram- 
marians and pedagogues, but in the circles of 
philosophers ; the assemblies of the wise, where 
the question is not concerning the mother of 
Andromache, or Niobe's children, and simi- 
lar trifles ; but the investigation of realities 
human and divine. In reasoning upon, in 
tracing, in unravelling these intricacies, we 
might perhaps betray a wrinkled austerity 
somewhat forbidding ; if it is possible to be 
too anxious, or too serious in the search after 
truth. But in this search, who shall convict 
us of dulness or stupidity ? Let him pome 
forward, and enter the lists with us. He shall 
soon find that Mercury inspired the intellects, 
if not the tongues of barbarians ; that if des- 
titute of eloquence, they were not devoid of 
wisdom. That they combined not these qua- 
lities, is perhaps so far from being a crime, 
that such a combination would itself be cri- 
minal. Who condemns not paint, or studied 
ornament, in a virgin adorned with native 
charms ? In a vestal, who would not detest 
them ? So w r idely differ the offices of the ora- 
tor and the philosopher, that nothing can be 
more dissimilar. What are the views of the 
rhetorician ? — To lie, — to deceive, — to circum* 
c c 2 



196 MEMOIRS OF 

vent, — to infatuate, — to give to falsehood the 
semblance of truth, or that of truth to false- 
hood. Eloquence enables you at pleasure to 
exalt or degrade, to amplify or extenuate, 
by a species of magic to transform things into 
whatever shape you please ; and though, in 
reality, truth can undergo no change, it ap- 
pears to your audience what you choose to 
represent it. Behold the extent of your art ! 
an art of fiction, imposture, and deception : 
always occupied in magnifying or diminishing 
objects beyond reality ; masking truth by an 
artificial colouring of words ; cajoling, in order 
to mislead the judgment of mankind. 

What affinity is there between such men 
and the philosopher, whose sole business is the 
discovery and demonstration of truth ? In 
him, an affectation of verbal ornaments, by 
implying a distrust of the reasons which he ad- 
duces, would tend to lessen their credit and au- 
thority. Far be it from us to rely on such arts 
in order to gain disciples. We treat sacred sub- 
jects with rusticity, in preference to studied 
ornament ; convinced that nothing can be 
more unbecoming or detrimental, than to write 
or speak in this elaborate style on topics con- 
nected with the investigation of truth. Such 
language may be adapted to the forum, but 
consists not with enquiries into nature, or 
celestial speculations. It belongs not to the 
academe, but to the tribune ; where words 
and facts are weighed by popular estimation, 
by those who value leaves and blossoms more 
than fruits. 

You are not ignorant that every garb 

suits not every character. Allowing this elo- 

* quence of yours to be ornamental, engaging, 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 197 

attractive in itself ; yet in a philosopher it 
were neither consistent nor pleasing. A light 
and airy step, studied gestures, languishing 
looks, none would disapprove in an opera- 
dancer or a stage-player ; but who would not 
remark them in a philosopher with disgust and 
aversion ? Graceful vivacity, and infantile 
loquaciousness, are qualities which in a young 
maiden we caress and admire ; but in a ma- 
tron, we should assuredly condemn them, as 
affected and incongruous. Not to us there- 
fore, attaches the charge of folly, but to those 
who celebrate the orgies of Bacchus in the 
temple of Vesta ; who degrade the gravity 
and decorum of philosophical subjects with 
ludicrous quibbles, and flourishes of rhetoric. 
The remark of Sinesius concerning a young 
man may justly be applied to style ; when 
overcharged with ornament it is of a suspicious 
character. We had rather ours should be rude 
and unpolished, than be thought to disguise 
under specious decorations some defect or im- 
purity ; lest, instead of commanding the reve- 
rence due to Minerva's robe, it should be 
repelled, as profane, from assisting at her sa- 
cred rites. 

In a word, nothing can be more foreign, 
in all respects, from the maxims of a philoso- 
pher, than that which savours of pomp and 
luxury. Socrates observed, that Sycionian 
slippers were neatly made, and became the 
foot extremely well ; but were not fit for So- 
crates. The habits of the philosopher, and 
the man of the world, differ with regard both 
to diet and conversation. The former adapts 
these things to his necessities merely ; the lat- 
ter to the advancement of his secular interests, 



19S MEMOIRS OF 

as to which, if the one were regardless, he 
would cease to be a man of the world ; if the 
other were affectedly solicitous, he would be 
no philosopher. If Pythagoras could have 
subsisted without food, he would have ab- 
stained from herbs and roots : if he could have 
communicated his thoughts by looks, or other- 
wise than by discourse, he would not have 
spoken at all ; much less was he inclined to 
study elegance of language. Let us not disguise 
the viands which we place before our guests, 
with such tempting and artificial sauces, as 
that content to feed on the outside, they shall 
neglect to taste of the marrow and juices. 
How often do we observe those, who have 
sinister ends to serve, amusing their hearers 
with pomp and sound, while all is, in reality, 
mere emptiness. Should the philosopher do 
so, Musonius will exclaim, this is not the 
voice of the philosopher, but the mere whistle 
of the flute-player. 

Blame us not for omitting to do what we 
could not have done innocently. We are 
solicitous what, and not how, we write. We 
are solicitous indeed, how. We would avoid 
all pomp, and flowers of oratory ; we seek not 
to recommend our matter by wit or elegance. 
Let our manner be useful, be grave, be vene- 
rable. Let it rather derive authority from the 
dignity of the subject, than commendation 
from frippery of style. We desire not the 
plaudits of the theatre ; that the rotundity or 
smoothness of our periods may captivate the 
ear. Wit and humour are not our object. 
Grant us rather the silent admiration of* those 
few, who are capable of examining and com- 
prehending truths, extracted from the secret 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 199 

recesses of nature, or brought down from 
Jove's high palace for the cognisance of men. 
Grant us the praise of detecting falsehood so 
clearly, that it can no longer be defended ; of 
defending truth so ably, that it can no longer 
called in question. Grant us the praise of 
sagacity in research ; exactness in enquiry ; 
subtilty in speculation; gravity in judging; 
dexterity in entangling an opponent, or in 
extricating ourselves. Allow us brevity of 
style ; pregnant, notwithstanding, with mul- 
tifarious and weighty matter ; obvious expres- 
sions ; but meanings most extensive and pro- 
found ; pages replete with the most important 
questions and solutions ; skill and tried expe- 
rience in determining ambiguities ; solving 
difficulties ; evolving intricacies ,; and by the 
most convincing syllogisms invalidating false- 
hoods, and establishing truths. By such pre- 
tensions, Hermolaus, we vindicate our fame 
from oblivion, and despair not of still vindi- 
cating it through every succeeding age. 

We are pronounced, you say, by the ma- 
ny unpolished and uncouth. We deem this 
rather an honour than a disgrace. We wrote 
not for them, but for you, and such as you. 
As the ancients, bv the veil of enigma and 
fable, deterred unlearned persons from their 
mysteries, so we, by an external of harsh and 
unpalatable terms, have been wont to scare 
from our festivals those who would only pol- 
lute them. Thus they who would conceal a 
treasure, if they cannot otherwise withdraw it 
from public view, do not scruple to cover it 
with sweepings and rubbish, in order to hide 
it from unworthy eyes. No less careful is the 
philosopher to disguise his speculations from 






200 MEMOIRS OF 

the vulgar ; who, incapable of appreciating, 
can do them no honour by their praises. Con- 
sequently, it would be a degrading species of 
deference to such, to intermingle in his writ- 
ings any thing calculated for ostentation, or 
to catch the popular gale. 

Our discourses resemble the "Sileni" of 
our own Alcibiades. Those statues, externally 
fierce, squallid and disgusting, were rilled 
within with jewels, and other articles of the 
most rare and valuable kind. Regarding our 
exteriour, you perceive nothing but the mon- 
ster ; but if you look within, the monster be- 
comes a god. But our ears, you will say, 
cannot endure this harsh, disjointed arrange- 
ment ; these barbarous terms, formidable in 
their very sound. Fastidious man ! when you 
attend a concert of music, resign yourself 
wholly to the pleasures of the ear ; when the 
schools of philosophers, abstract yourself from 
sense, and retire into the inmost recesses of 
your mind. Assume those ears of Thyaneus, 
wherewith, disencumbered of the body, he 
was enabled to distinguish, not terrestrial 
Marsyas, but the divine Apollo himself, attun- 
ing his celestial lyre to music of the spheres, 
ineffably harmonious. With such ears could 
you listen to the discourses of philosophers, 
not Nestor's words should equal theirs in 
sweetness. But to reason more familiarly; 
when the philosopher is occupied in the most 
subtle disquisitions, to loathe some inelegan- 
cies in his diction, betrays less a delicate sto- 
mach than one unaccustomed to such ban- 
quets. It is as if one should be offended with 
Socrates, when delivering precepts of morality, 
because the latchet of his shoe were loose, or 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 201 

his robe sate ungracefully. It were to quarrel 
about the paring of a nail : 

" Ac si sectum prave stomachetur ob unguem." Horat. 

Cicero requires not eloquence in a philosopher, 
but merely an ability to comprehend and do 
justice to his subject. That writer, equally 
learned and discreet, knew that it is incum- 
bent on us to regulate the thoughts, rather 
than diction ; to guard more against aberra- 
tion of judgment, than of words : that our 
concern is rather with the " Xoyog ev Zictbevai" 
than that " \y npotpopcc :" that it becomes us 
to have the muses, not so much on our lips, 
as within our bosoms ; lest the tones of the 
soul, rendered harsh by anger, or enfeebled by 
concupiscence, lose any thing of their genuine 
and justly attempered harmony. 

Plato banished poets from his common- 
wealth as tending, by the luxuriancy of their 
compositions, to enervate the mind ; and gave 
the direction of it to philosophers. These 
likewise he would doubtless have banished, had 
he found them disputing in the meretricious 
style of poets. You appeal perhaps, to Lucre- 
tius, who observes, that though philosophical 
treatises stand in no need of verbal ornament, 
yet flowery language serves agreeably to dis- 
guise the austerity of their precepts : so, 
though wormwood were itself sufficient for the 
cure of a disease, we yet mingle honey with it ; 

*' Ut puerorura aetas improvida ludificetur." 

Your reasoning, Lucretius ! might be admissi- 
ble, if you wrote indeed for children : if ad- 
missible with regard to others, much more 
d d 



202 MEMOIRS 01- 

with regard to you, who present them with a 
vessel, not merely of wormwood, but of the 
rankest poison. But the case is widely differ- 
ent with us, who seek not to allure the vulgar, 
but to deter them : who offer not a draught of 
Wormwood, but of nectar. But Lactantius, 
you say, contends that truth, combining with 
its native force the embellishments of oratory, 
makes a more powerful impression on the 
minds even of aged and grave, as well as 
youthful hearers. Had you, Lactantius, been 
more conversant in sacred literature, and less 
in fabulous disputation, far from supporting, 
you would with us have opposed this opinion. 
What can more strongly move, more power- 
fully persuade than the holy scriptures ? I 
should rather have said, they agitate, they 
constrain, they take us by foree. Plain are 
the words ; familiar the expressions; yet lively, 
quick, and fervid ; penetrating the most se- 
cret recesses of the heart, and with miraculous 
efficacy transforming the whole man. With 
the beautiful and elaborate orations of Pericles, 
I am comparatively little affected, said Alci- 
biades, but the natural and unadorned lan- 
guage of Socrates kindles me to enthusiasm, 
transports me beyond myself, and compels my 
assent and obedience. 

Not to multiply arguments in defence of 
a truth so obvious ; if a hearer is in his senses, 
what can he expect but treachery from lan- 
guage so highly coloured ? Three things tend 
powerfully to persuade; the life of the speaker, 
the truth and importance of the subject, and 
seriousness of address. A philosopher, Lac- 
tantius, needs no other recommendation of 
his precepts, if his moral conduct be pine, if 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 203 

he speak the truth, if he utter it in a language 
derived not from the bowers of the muses, but 
from that frowning cavern in which Heracli- 
tus said truth lies concealed. 

But, exclaims another opponent, let us 
candidly examine this position. Wisdom, a 
quality which of itself commands our reve- 
rence and attention, stands in no absolute 
need, we grant, of adventitious ornament. 
Yet why not admit the accession of ornament ; 
since those things which are engaging in them- 
selves become still more so by being decorated 
and adorned. True ; yet in many cases this 
maxim is inadmissible. There are things, the 
lustre of which would be rather obscured than 
heightened by any accession ; and which are 
in their own nature so perfect, that any change 
or variation would be detrimental. A palace 
of marble admits not of paint ; should you 
whitewash it, you detract from its magnifi- 
cence and beauty. So wisdom, so philosophi- 
cal subjects are not illustrated, but obscured, 
by such decorations. It is a known maxim, 
that a beautiful face is not improved by paint. 
Superadded charms frequently conceal what 
lies beneath, and exhibit only what they bring: 
if then the original are superior to the adven- 
titious, they gain not, but lose by the acces- 
sion. Hence philosophy presents herself un- 
adorned ; obvious to sight, nor dreading in- 
spection, she appeals to the understanding ; 
conscious that she is free from all deformity. 
She rejects a disguise, which, in proportion as 
it were applied, would detract from her beauty 
and her praise. Simple in her very essence, 
any admixture would vitiate and change her 
nature. Her properties, like those of the ma- 
o d 2 



204 MEMOIRS OF 

thematical point, are unity and indivisibility. 
The playful metaphor, the swelling hyperbole, 
the luxuriating comparison, and similar fac- 
titious ornaments would not only offend her 
gravity, but be productive of criminal addi- 
tion, diminution or change. 

Thus far then, say you, accept our conces- 
sion : admitting that your language should be 
unadorned, let it at least savour of classical 
latin ity ; though not flowery, let it be consis- 
tent with propriety ; though unsolicitous to 
please by selection and arrangement, let it not 
offend by disgusting negligence and preterna- 
tural deformity. It is well ; we have already 
made great progress towards your conversion. 
But inform me, I entreat you, what is this lati- 
nity, on the neglect of which you ground your 
only remaining charge against us ? Should it, 
for instance, occur in argument, " a sole 
hominem produci," our party will say, " cau- 
sari hominem :" this is not Latin, you exclaim ; 
admitted : it is not classically spoken ; be it 
so : consequently erroneously ; here you ar- 
gument fails. An Arabian, or an Egyptian 
shall express the same idea, each in a different 
language, but this difference does not affect 
its truth. Words are either the creations of 
pleasure, or they are founded on the nature of 
things. If merely accidental, and deriving 
their fitness from the common consent of any 
particular society of persons, why is not the 
phraseology which these philosophers, whom 
you term barbarians, have agreed to sanction, 
entitled to equal respect with the Roman? 
With what semblance of reason do you call 
theirs wrong, and yours right, if the imposi- 
tion of names be thus altogether arbitrary ? 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. ^05 

If it merits not the appellation of Latin, you 
are at liberty to call it French, British, Spa- 
nish,— what you please. In conversing with 
you, they will in some particulars excite your 
ridicule, and in others be unintelligible. The 
same thing will happen to you in addressing 
them: " Avcc%apvig <ko.$ Abevaioig pqXoiki^si, 
Absvcaot, Ss mapcx, ^av^aag — Anacharsis com- 
mits solecisms among Athenians ; — Athenians 
among Scythians." But if the propriety of words 
depends on the nature of the things which 
they denote, whom will you consult on this 
head ; the rhetorician, or the philosopher, 
who alone is versed in the nature of the things 
in question ? What the ear rejects as harsh, 
reason perhaps approves as peculiarly appro- 
priate and significant. Yet why introduce 
these innovations upon what may be termed 
vernacular latinity ? Occupied, Hermolaus ! 
in developing the laws of the universe, or in 
tracing the minutest operations of nature, they 
could not at the same time be studying in 
Cicero, Pliny, or Apuleius, the graces and 
proprieties of language. Their inquiry was, 
not what the Roman idiom, but what nature 
admits of or abhors. 

But let us grant for a moment in your 
favour, the expediency of a close connection 
between wisdom and eloquence ; who is guilty 
of disuniting them ? Not merely philosophers ; 
but historians, rhetoricians, poets ; so Philos- 
tratus complains. Yet the latter shall survive 
to immortal praise ; the former only to oblo- 
quy and contempt ! Inconclusive reasoner ! 
beware ! Cicero prefers discretion, though 
stammering and hesitating, to words at will, 
without it. We ask not so much whose image 



206 MEMOIRS OF 

a coin bears, as of what metal it consists ; 
and who would not prefer pure gold from a 
barbarian, to base metal from a Roman mint ? 
If it were a crime to separate good sense from 
eloquence, what shall we say of those who 
abounding in the latter, are entirely destitute 
of the former ? Such, to use the phrase of 
Cato, are " mera mortuaria glossaria." To 
exist without a tongue, under some inconveni- 
ences, were possible ; but not without a heart. 
If he who is unimbued with polite literature, is 
little better than a barbarian ; he that is desti- 
tute of philosophy, is less than man. Prudence 
totally devoid of eloquence, may be beneficial ; 
eloquence without prudence, like a sword in 
the hand of a maniac, cannot but be mis- 
chievous. 

Then, a piece of sculpture is praised for 
the materials, not the workmanship. Then, 
if Chasrilus had handled the same subject with 
Homer ; Masvius with Virgil ; they must have 
been entitled to an equal rank with them as 
poets. — Your similitude is defective, and 
cannot apply. Our assertion, as well as yours, 
is, that things are to be estimated " a specie, 
non a subjecto;" by the form, and not the 
matter. By the quality or species, things are 
what they are ; but one species confers a title 
to the name of philosopher ; another, to that 
of poet, Let Lucretius write of nature, of 
God, of providence : let Scotus, or some 
other of us, do the same ; and let him write in 
verse, to expose himself the more. The first 
principles of Lucretius shall be atoms and a 
vacuum : his deity corporeal, ignorant and 
regardless of human affairs : his universe re- 
gulated and kept in motion by the mere for- 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 20? 

tuitous justling of corpuscles : but his latinity, 
beyond all question pure and elegant. To 
natural substances Scotus shall ascribe their 
proper essence and qualities : God, he will tell 
you, is a separate mind ; knoAving all things ; 
superintending all things ; yet so superintend- 
ing the least, as well as the greatest, that his 
own tranquillity remains undisturbed ; and 
agreeably to the common phrase, " Kafliovlx 
f/,vj Hcflisyeu :" yet all this, in a language so 
rude and unpolished, as not to merit the name 
of Latin. Will it be difficult to determine 
which of these is the best poet; which the best 
philosopher ? Beyond all controversy, Scotus 
as much excels in the propriety of his reason- 
ing, as Lucretius in the elegance of his lan- 
guage. But mark the difference : the imper- 
fection of the one, is that of the lips ; of the 
other, that of the judgment. The one betrays 
ignorance of the laws of poesy, possibly of 
grammar ; the other, of God and nature. The 
one, rude of speech, has thoughts that cannot 
be sufficiently applauded ; the other, in a strain 
of consummate eloquence, utters doctrines of 
the most impious and most dangerous ten- 
dency." 

These, or much more ingenious argu- 
ments, our barbarian, my dear Hermolaus ! 
might probably urge in defence of his own 
barbarism. Not that I fully subscribe, or 
pretend that every gentleman and scholar is 
bound to subscribe to his opinion. I have 
taken up perhaps the worst side of the argu- 
ment, as a trial of skill. Plato's Glauco de- 
fended injustice not from conviction ; but to 
stimulate Socrates to the praise of its opposite. 
I likewise, hoping to hear you plead the cause 



208 MEMOIRS or 

of eloquence, have inveighed against it in 
terms rather beyond what my feelings and 
judgment approve. Had I deemed the study 
of eloquence contemptible in comparison with 
that of these barbarians, I should not have 
almost wholly deserted the latter for the for- 
mer. I should not apply with my present 
ardour to Greek literature ; to the perusal of 
your " Themistius," a work which cannot be 
sufficiently commended. But allow me to say, 
I confess myself provoked at our modern 
grammaticasters, men, who if they can trace 
two words only to their origin, fancy that all 
learning centres in themselves, and affect to 
speak of our moral writers with contempt. 
Away! say they, with these philosophers of 
yours ; we would have nothing to do with 
them. No wonder! " Nee Falernum canes." 
But to conclude this epistle ; if our barba- 
rians have obtained deserved celebrity from 
the simple knowledge of things ; who shall 
take upon him to define what portion of ho- 
nour and praise ought to satisfy your just 
claims ; who amongst philosophers are the 
most eloquent; amongst the eloquent, to ex- 
press myself by a Greek phrase, " (pi\o7o(pw- 
IccTog" Adieu. Florentue : Non. Jun. 1485." 
Hermolaus did not fail to reply to this 
pici oper. p. amicable challenge of his friend, in a letter 
ep.Poiitiani equally elaborate and argumentative ; though 
less adorned with the flowers of elocution than 
the preceding. ' ' I was not, " says he, ' * without 
expectation of becoming a gainer by the letter 
which I lately addressed to you ; but you have 
indeed repaid me with a species of interest as 
\ far exceeding my expectations, as it is greater 

than that allowed by law. Instead of a letter 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 209 

I receive a volume. How can I sufficiently 
express the pleasure I feel on perceiving that 
notwithstanding the closeness of your applica- 
tion to your studies, you find leisure for, and 
gratification in the perusal of my letters. Of 
this I can have no difficulty in persuading my- 
self; since the most minute and trivial expres- 
sions they contain, do not escape your atten- 
tion. I happened to drop a few hasty and merely 
accidental remarks, respecting a certain class 
of barbarian philosophers of modern standing; 
and although you are yourself hostile to them, 
and avowedly no longer of their party, you 
seek to involve me in an old, and already 
much agitated controversy with them. What 
an elaborate, learned, and elegant declama- 
tion is yours ! yet composed with such rapi- 
dity, that if I had not been previously well ac- 
quainted with your talents, I should have said 
you had written it long ago, and kept it by 
you, waiting an opportunity of bringing it 
forward. But what both delights and enter- 
tains me most, is not only that Picus, the 
genteel, the accomplished, the classical Picus, 
defends barbarians against Barbarus ; but a foe 
pretends to combat for a foe ; an ally against 
an ally ; Picus against himself. I am per- 
fectly charmed with the deduction of two 
plain inferences ; first, that you have inflicted 
a most deadly wound in the sides of those 
whom you affect to defend, in having shewn 
that it is only by eloquence, that the enemies 
of eloquence could have hoped to be defended : 
and secondly, that as they are incapable of 
being defended even by Picus himself, their 
case is manifestly desperate, and beyond the 
power of remedy." 

E E 






210 MEMOIRS OF 

" I am informed," continues Hermolaus, 
" by certain of my Paduan friends, that 
your apology, which already begins to be in- 
scribed " Scytharum et Teutonum ;" in other 
words, " Typhonis et Eumenidum Laudatio;" 
has occasioned no little chagrin to the greater 
part of those whom you defend, and that a 
variety of constructions are put upon it. To 
our own party, with whom you are at variance 
in words, but agree in sentiments, you have 
performed a most acceptable service ; since we 
are well aware of its scope and tendency. 
Justly indeed, might I charge you as a de- 
serter, if your real sentiments were not in 
unison with the elegant character of your com- 
position. Yet, for the sake of a jest, allow 
me to observe, you cannot be altogether ac- 
quitted of tergiversation, in thus playing a dou- 
ble game ; and wounding the cause which you 
patronise, by your mode of advocating it. If 
you betray your clients, what difference does 
the manner make in the treason ? Nay, what 
scheme could have been more treacherously 
devised, than to defend by the highest efforts 
of eloquence, those who are confessedly most 
at variance with eloquence, and most obnoxi- 
ous to it ? and that too by arguments which 
the very persons whose cause you plead would 
very easily confute, provided they were endued 
with capacities to comprehend you. But alas ! 
at a composition so polished as yours, which 
dazzles their sight with the brilliancy of so 
many metaphors ; at sentiments so pointed ; 
historical allusions so multifarious ; at all those 
flowers of the most recondite erudition ; the 
least asinine among them ; 1 would Bay, the 
least * * «p,80-oi, " can barely move their ears' 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 211 



The rest fly out of hearing ; they disclaim, 
they abjure them."(w) 



(m) Hermolaus puts the remainder of his reply into the 
mouth of one of these Paduan students, who somewhat more 
sagacious than the rest of his tribe*, is made to suspect the 
sincerity of Pico's intentions; and consequently protests at 
considerable length, equally against his officious zeal for their 
cause, and his mode of defending it ; and at length con- 
cludes with this declaration, " Malumus causa tota cadere 
quam per te servari, &c." In this particular, perhaps the 
correspondent of Picus has a further view of holding up to 
designed ridicule the academists of Padua, as distinguished 
from 'those of other similar institutions in Italy, by an obsti- 
nate attachment to the study of the scholastic writers, in 
preference to those classic models which lead to the forma- 
tion of a purer style, and a more elegant taste. 

In allusion to this epistle of Picus, Politian writing 
to Bernardus Riccius, one of his correspondents then resi- 
dent at Milan, observes, " You inform me that many in your 
circles take offence at my speaking so highly of the extensive 
erudition of Joannes Picus of Mirandula, and his zeal in the 
pursuit of letters ; and are unwilling to allow his composi- 
tions the praise of eloquence. You desire to be favoured 
with a letter, or any other short production of his pen, to 
carry about with you and shew as occasion may require ; 
that the vindication of his fame may not rest merely either 
on your assertion, or my testimony. Willing to oblige you, 
I have transcribed and sent a letter of Picus, wherein he 
defends a certain class of philosophers against Hermolaus 
Barbarus ; and with it the ingenious answer of the latter, 
that you may "have an opportunity of contrasting the style 
and manner of each. From this letter you will be able to 
form some estimate of the talents of Picus ; yet it is to mea- 
sure, as the Greek proverb says, " Leonem ab unguibus." 
He is indeed in the constant habit of writing largely on one 
important subject or another ; as his works daily maturing 
for publication, will hereafter convince the world ; yet now 
and then he condescends to exercise his pen on these lighter 
subjects. This very letter, so full, so pointed, so rich in 
argument, was in a manner the extemporaneous production 
of a few morning hours. Yet you will discover in it select 
expressions, a style truly classic, attic simplicity, close ar- 
rangement, roundness of period, an agreeable conciseness, 
a sprightly glow of colouring, yet perfectly chaste and void 
E E % 



212 MEMOIRS OF 

The year 1485 began to draw near its 
close, before Picus took his leave of the Flo- 
rentine academy. Previously however to his 
pag.236? departure from Florence, Philippus Beroaidus 
appears to have addressed to him a friendly 
letter, which was accompanied by some poeti- 
cal compositions of his own. In return for 
these, he requests to be favoured with a similar 
mark of confidence on the part of Picus ; 
something which he might peruse himself, or 
communicate to the literati of Bologna, with 
the most incontrovertible assurance of its be- 
ing the genuine offspring of his pen : for the 
same ardent curiosity respecting our youthful 
prodigy, which we have seen existing in other 
literary circles, had also been excited amongst 
the academists of the above-mentioned city. 
Beroaidus, who was a frequent correspon- 
dent of Picus, and makes a conspicuous figure 
amongst the scholars of this age, was a native 
of Bologna ; where he first saw the light A. D. 
1453. He was, in his infancy, deprived of 
his father; consequently, the superintendance 
of his education devolved upon his mother 
Castorea, whose affection and care Philippus 



of extravagant or affected ornament, happy metaphor, acute 
reasoning, appropriate elucidation, strong and convincing 
argument, solidity of judgment, accurate discrimination, 
uncommon force, ingenuity and dignity. Nevertheless, as 
Cicero on some occasion remarks, mankind are extremely 
unwilling to acknowledge a variety of excellencies in any 
individual. Picus, who has given such repeated and con- 
vincing proofs of en .-ne nee in the career of letters, and stood 
forward so often in their defence, great as his eloquence 
assuredly is, has been denied the solitary praise of a polished 
and elegant style. But the days to come, as Pindar says, 
shall pronounce a juster judgment." (Politiani Epist. Lib. 
ix. tp. 2.) 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 213 

remunerated, to the latest moment of her life, 
with great filial piety and gratitude. Nature 
had bestowed upon Beroaldus a remarkable 
docility of disposition, an agreeable person, 
and a pleasing elocution ; together with a sin- 
gularly retentive memory, which he further 
improved by assiduous reading, and the prac- 
tice of teaching. After the usual course of 
grammatical studLs, he became a diligent 
hearer of Franciscus Puteolanus, a professor 
and poet of some eminence for those times. 
He was soon, himself, called to the professor's 
chair; first at Parma, afterwards at the uni- 
versity of Paris ; where he was attended by a 
numerous auditory. At length, invited back 
in the most honourable and flattering manner, 
to his native city, he continued to exercise 
his learned functions there, until the termina- 
tion of his life, with great eminence and con- 
tinually increasing celebrity, (ri) 



(n) '* Scholam ejus clari genere fortunisque viri frequen- 
tarunt ; ad quern audiendum undique ex longinquis regioni- 
bus confluebant." 

" Profitebatur autem hora diei fere tertia, frequenti audi- 
entium turba. Pronuntiabat dulci claraque voce, ac jucunda 
et ad auditum accommodala, recta facie, nee minus decoro 
corporis motu ac decenti actu. In elucidandis vero scrip- 
torum sensibus, tanta ingenii dexteritate usus est, ut omni- 
bus pariter audientibus satisfecerit semper. Adeoque magna 
in literis ejus fait authoritas, ut non ab homine sed a Deo 
responsa dari viderentur. Hujus viri inter muita egregia, et 
istud memorabile fuit, quod indefessus a mane ad vesperas, 
post publicas lectiones, privatas etiam turn legebat. Me 
quidem adolescentulo, memoria repeto, singulis dtebus novem 
lectiones legere solitum : nee unquam de mercedibus pactus 
est, eoque plura ex liberalitate discentium consecutus, Hunc 
quaestum sine crimine sordium fecit; quia tunc temporis res 
femiliaris ad usus necessarios, non homini ad plenum sup- 
petebat. Sic etiam Socrates, quasi quidam philosophorum 



214 MEMOIRS OF 

At this period, the family of the Bentivoglj, 
which had long been distinguished for its opu- 
lence and splendour, seems to have enjoyed 
no less power and precedency at Bologna, than 
that of the Medici at Florence. Giovanni 
Bentivoglio, then the chief of this illustrious 
house, who had connected 'himself either by 
affinity or friendship with most of the princes 
of Italy, honoured Beroaldus with his special 
patronage, and with the tuition of Annibale, 
his son, and the intended heir of his fortunes 
and dignity. With a nobleman and senator, 
whom he introduces in his writings, by the 
classical name of " Minus Roscius," (0) a 
person of great learning and taste, as well as 



Deus, — sic Chrysippus, sic Cleanthes mercedes a discipulis 
acceptaverunt. Vixit parvo contentus. Pecuniae, quae ni- 
mis in homimim animis potest, minus erat cupidus. Procul- 
dubio hie a divitiis possessus non est ; sed possedit divitias. 
Sacris etiam per omnem vitam intentus, ut bonum ageret 
christianum, fatigabat Deum, festos dies religiosissime cele- 
brans. — De seternitate animorum scepissime disseruit : cujus 
haec erat sententia : animos hominum esse sempiter- 

NOS ; ET BONARUM RERUM SENSUM MANERE PERPE- 

tuo." fP. Beroaldi vita per Barth. Blanchinum ; Suctonii 
Editioni Lugdun. 1548, in fol. pnrfixa.J 

(0) To this nobleman Beroaldus addressed his edition o( 
" Sextus Julius Frontinus De Re Militari," published Bono- 
wict, 1495. The epistle dedicatory is thus superscribed. 
f Ad Magnificum Senatorem Milium Roscium." M Hos " 
(says Beroaldus speaking of the authors " De Re Militari") 
" ego nuperrime relegi emendavique, Mine mi, eruditorum 
nobilissime, in Ponticulamo tuo feriatus ; quo saluber- 
nmo secessu nihil amoenius, nihil magnificentius, nihil pul- 
chrius novi. Adeo ut Laurentinum Plinianuni, ut vilhr Lu- 
culliana:, ut praetoria omnia a luxuriosis aedificatoribaa mag- 
nificenter extructa, cum Ponticulano Rosciorum comparari 
vix mereantur. Te beatum meritissime nuncupant cui res 
adest et virtus." (Vide Pntfationcs, SfC t ante 1 500. J 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 215 

of amiable and popular manners, and whose 
family was second only to that of the Benti- 
voglj in wealth and influence, Beroaldus also 
lived many years, upon terms of the most 
cordial and intimate friendship. As the pro- 
fessor was of a facetious turn, (p) and a lively 
and cheerful disposition, his society was much 
valued by his distinguished patrons ; and their 
hospitable tables were very frequently enlivened 
by his wit, as well as instructed by his erudi- 
tion. In his youth, Beroaldus, who was na- 
turally of too convivial and gay a temper, 
contracted a passion for play, which involved 
him in great pecuniary difficulties. He was 
luxurious, dissipated, voluptuous ; and fre- 
quently engaged in amours of the most scan- 
dalous nature. But from these juvenile follies, 
his marriage with an amiable woman, effectu- 
ally reclaimed him ; and he thenceforward be- 
came a man of regular manners. His bio°:ra- 



Ludovicus Odaxius (in Ep. Angelo Politiano, Lib. in. ep. 
3.) terms him " Minus Bononiensis Sexdecim vir, homo mea 
quidem opinione, plurimi faciendus ; si nobilitalem, si divi- 
tias, si liberaiitatem morum, si literaturam inspicias, &c." 
(Vide Beroaldi de Morte ejus lament ationem inter Opuscula 
Beroaldi.J 



(p) " Erat natura laetus, sic ut vultum numquam mu- 
taverit moerore ullo. Super mensam semper comissimus, 
multa joco transigebat. Convivabatur assidue, praesertim- 
que cum Roscio suo, cujus mihi memoria sacrosancta est ; 
ac Bentivoiis ; a quibus, quaecunque peteret/ repulsam nun- 
quarn habuit." ( Vide Blanchinum \ ut supra.) 



phcrs add, that he was polite, beneficent, free 
from envy, neither injuring, nor speaking ill 
of any, and ever willing to render the utmost 
justice to real merit: that he was unambitious 



r 



216 MEMOIRS OF 

of honours, satisfied with modestly accepting 
those which were offered him ; and that at the 
instance of his friends, he consented to un- 
dertake the office of secretary to the senate of 
Bologna ; but as this happened towards the 
close of his life, he discharged the duties 
consequent thereupon, only for a very short 
period. 

The university of Bologna was perhaps, 

scarcely ever in a more flourishing state, than 

during the interval when Beroaldus occupied 

the professor's chair. We have his own testi- 

sce note (») mony that his auditory, at one time, consisted 

page 31 of the f s j x hundred students. Amongst the nume- 

Memoirs of . . » . 

Poiitian. rous foreigners who studied in this academy, 
were some of our own countrymen ; (g) of one 
in particular, Beroaldus, on a certain occasion 
makes very honourable mention : and modern 
travellers inform us that the tombs(r) of several 
illustrious Englishmen are still to be seen in 



(q) " Nuperrime omnium suffragiis atque consensu, de- 
signates fuit Rector utriusque scholastici conventus, hoc est, 
tarn Italicorum quam provincialium, vir magnificus ac cir- 
cumspectissimus, Thomas, Anglicus, vel ut latine loquar, 
Britannicus ; qui et natalibus, et familiae nobilitate, clarissi- 
musest: idem, fortunae bonis opulentus, animi dotibus ex- 
cellens, cm genitale solum Anglia est, quam maximam illus- 
trissimamque esse insularum, nullus ignorat, &c." (Bero- 
nidi Orat. ap. Rector. Scholast. Conventus, J 

(r) Upon one of these appears the following epitaph : 

Hie situs in tumulo est Gulielmus, gloria gentls 
Anglorum, quern mors traxit ad Elysios. 

Nam modd festivos dum spectat ludere Bombos, 
Bombardi fractus viiibus occubuit. 

Proh dolor ! ergo homini quaenam flducia Marti, 
Si jugulant etiam, quos putat esse jocos. 

Thus given, though perhaps not correctly, by Guthrie, with 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 217 

the Dominican convent at Bologna, who died 
whilst pursuing their studies in that city, in 
the reign of our Henry VII. That Picus was 
ever a regular attendant at the lectures of 
Beroaldus, does not appear. But as he was 
personally acquainted with the Bolognese pro- 
fessor, it is probable that he had occasionally 
the gratification of being an ear witness of his 
professional erudition. The biographer of Be- 
roaldus enlarges, with much apparent interest, 
on the friendship that intervened betwixt him 
and Picus ; adding, that the latter, being asked 
on a certain occasion by some of his friends, 
what he thought of Beroaldus ; replied, ' ' I 
consider him as a kind of living library. *\s) 

On quitting Florence, Picus seems to have 
formed a resolution of visiting and passing 
some time at Perugia, a city in the domains 



an additional prose inscription, shewing that the tomb was 
erected at the pious instance and charge of Robertus Fischer, 
November 4, A. D. 1503. (Travels through Italy, fyc. 
Vol.il. p. 186 J 

(*) " Fuit etiam amicissimus Angelo Politiano, et Pico 
Mirandulae, rari exempli viro, qui cum ab amicis rogaretur 
quidnam de Beroaldo sentiret ; memorabilem illam, merito- 
que celebratam hominum memoria. vocem, respondebat, Be- 
roaldum sibi videri vivam quandam loquentem bibliothecam." 
(Blanchini Vit. Beroaldi : ut supra. J 

That Beroaldus had accumulated a great fund of erudi- 
tion, is evident from his works at present extant: amongst 
which his '* Commentaria in Apuleium," and " in Suetoni- 
um," hold a conspicuous place. Pliny, Propertius, several 
of Cicero's works, and Columella, with other classic. authors 
also experienced the benefit of his critical labours. The 
orator Codrus Urceus, his contemporary, entertained so great 
a reverence for Beroaldus, that he denominated him, by way 
of eminence, " The Commentator/' " Codrus Urceus, 
orator, nostra homo memoria acri judicio, magna doctrina 
F T 



218 MEMOIRS OF 

of the church, situated at a middle distance 
between Rome and Florence, and also the 
seat of an ancient academy. His purpose 
therefore, indisputably was to increase his store 



beatissimaque rerum, verborumque copia praeditus, per ex- 
cellentiam quandam, Beroaldum Commentatorem Bononien- 
sem appellare consuevit." (Blanchinus ; ut supra") His 
scholar and biographer, Bianchini, asserts, that he did not 
so much obey, as invent the Legem Comment audi. It must 
however be acknowledged, that the " portenta reconditorum 
verborum" too much deform the compositions of Beroaldus ; 
and that both as a poet and a writer of prose, he is very in- 
fer iour to Politian. 

Vossius says, Beroaldus was one of the greatest men of 
his age; a person of almost infinite reading; but sometimes 
deficient in judgment : (in quo subinde judicium deside- 
res.) Though he died in the fifty-second year of his age, 
he survived most of his dearest friends, and most learned 
correspondents. He was interred at Bologna, where his 
epitaph is yet to be seen. (Consule Vossium De Histor. Lat.J 
The " Opuscula" of Beroaldus contain many characteristic 
singularities. His description of the " Pompa Nuptialis," 
on occasion of the marriage of his pupil, Annibale Benti- 
voglio, with the daughter of Ercole d' Este, Duke of Ferrara, 
is worthy to be classed with the " Ephtola trudita de Fer- 
culis" of Hermolaus Barbarus. 

Philippus Beroaldus, the younger, so much commended 
as a poet, and who flourished in the court of Leo X. was 
not, as some have termed him, the son, but the nephew of 
the preceding. He was by no means, as Vossius expres- 
ses it, " tantus sectator reconditorum verborum" as his 
uncle : witness his own verses, said to be subjoined to the 
epistles of Pliny with the corrections and emendations of 
Beroaldus the elder. 

Haut sequaris istos 
Qui portenta vomunt reconditorum 
Verborum ; mage qui videntur esse 
Docli inter sciolos ; apud disertos 
Nil insulsius est, ineptiusque. 

(See a short life of the younger Beroaldus, by P. Valeria- 
nus. J avium in Vit. Leon, <^c. ct Vossium, ut supra.) 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 219 

of literary information, by means of such ad- 
vantages as this seat of letters supplied. We 
can do little more however, than collect that 
the oriental languages and writers now began 
to engross the greatest share of his attention. 
Writing to Ficinus, at a juncture when he 
had been compelled to a temporary secession 
from Perugia, by a dread of the plague, he 
expresses the most sanguine expectation of 
being soon able to peruse the works of the 
impostor Mahomet, in the original. " Late- 
ly " says he, " I devoted a whole month of picioper. 
nightly as well as daily application to the pas> 249 ' 
Hebrew tongue. At present, I am wholly 
occupied by the Arabic and Chaldaic ; and I 
do not despair of speedily making the same 
progress in them, 1 have made in the Hebrew : 
for in the last mentioned language I can al- 
ready dictate a letter ; though not with ele- 
gance, yet without grammatical inaccuracies. 
You see," he continues, " what ardency of 
desire, aided by labour and diligence, can 
effect, even where the capacity is none of the 
strongest/' To these exertions, Picus de- 
clares he has been particularly stimulated, by 
the acquisition of certain oriental works, which 
he deems of inestimable value, and thrown 
in his way by the peculiar kindness of provi- 
dence. 

Picus, now deeply engaged in a novel spe- 
cies of study, and that of a nature so recon- 
dite and abstruse, and so little familiar to the 
scholars of his age, whether buried in the 
sombre cells of a college in Perugia, or occa- 
sionally confined by circumstances to the so- 
litude of his domestic library, becomes, for 
the space of a whole year, far less conspicuous 

F F % 






220 MEMOIRS OF 

to public view, than heretofore ; and seems, 
purposely as it were, to withdraw himself 
from the gaze of curiosity. A letter howe- 
ver, which in the month of October, I486, he 
addressed to one of his friends, from the aca- 
demic retreats of Perugia, may serve in a 
great measure to compensate for so long an 
interval of concealment ; as it brings him for- 
ward in a novel and interesting light, and 
furnishes the reader with some new traits of 
his character, with the maxims by which he 
purposed to regulate his future conduct, and 
more especially with some obscure indications 
of a design, the subsequent prosecution of which 
was attended with important consequences. — 
The person to whom Picus addressed this let- 
ter, was Andreas Corneus of Urbino. After 
picioper. some introductory matter, " You exhort me," 
pas ' 2 ' thus he proceeds, " to an active and public 
life ; observing that so long a course of phi- 
losophical studies will be far from reflecting 
either' glory or credit on your friend, if he 
does not at length consent to quit his seclu- 
sion, and act a conspicuous part on the busy 
theatre of the world. But in reality, my An- 
dreas, I should then consider my vigils and 
labours thrown away, when disposed to agree 
in opinion with you on this point. I grant, 
a notion generally prevails, but it is an unna- 
tural and fatal one, that persons of rank ought 
either entirely to neglect philosophical specu- 
lations, or at most, content themselves with 
such a superficial tincture as demands little 
effort, and serving only to heighten the false 
glitter of wit, confers no solid improvement 
on the mind. With them, the maxim of Ne- 
optolemus has the force of a law, M aut nil 






PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 221 

philosophandum aut paucis." They regard 
as false and futile, the apothegms of the wise, 
which teach that solid and genuine felicity 
consists in the possessions of the mind ; and 
that things extraneous and fortuitous, and 
which respect the body merely, are those with 
which we have, in reality, little or no con- 
cern. — You will say, I wish you so to embrace 
the province of Martha, as in the mean time, 
not to relinquish Mary's part. Thus far, I 
partly admit the fairness of your reasoning, 
and will not take upon me to criminate those 
who act accordingly. But although there 
may be no impropriety in passing from a con- 
templative to an active life, yet is it neither 
criminal nor blameable in any degree, to ad- 
here to a life of contemplation. What ! shall 
he be charged with misconduct, who, seeking 
virtue for her own sake, and seeking nothing 
extraneous to her, makes her the perpetual 
object of his desires and pursuits? Who joy- 
ing in an abstraction from the world, which 
enables him to penetrate more deeply into the 
mysteries of God and of nature, can both neg- 
lect and contemn those goods which are deem- 
ed capable of filling the largest wishes of their 
votaries ? Shall it be pronounced illiberal, and 
unbecoming a person of quality, to affect the 
study of wisdom unconnected with mercenary 
considerations ? Who can patiently endure 
or listen to such assertions ? How false is his 
philosophy, who has therefore philosophized, 
that he may or may not philosophize, at plea- 
sure ! His are the maxims of a tradesman, 
not of a philosopher. 

You observe that it is high time I should 
pay my devoirs to one or other of the most 



222 MEMOIRS OF 

powerful Italian princes. You are not yet it 
seems, aware how proudly philosophers reason. 
Esteeming themselves, according to the Hora- 
tian phrase, " kings of kings," they cannot 
form their manners to cringing servility. Fa- 
miliarized with solitude and self-converse, and 
satisfied with the tranquillity of their own 
minds, they find therein a present and never- 
failing resource ; and therefore seek nothing 
extrinsic. What the vulgar deem honourable, 
they consider as disgraceful ; and the things 
which human cupidity thirsts after, or to 
which ambition aspires, they neglect and de- 
spise. If these sentiments become every phi- 
losopher, they ought more especially to in- 
fluence those, who favoured with the extraor- 
dinary gifts of fortune, possess the means of 
living not merely in ease and affluence, but in 
splendour. Honours and fortune doubtless 
raise their possessors to a height of conspicuous 
ostentation ; but too often, like a mettlesome 
and restive charger, either shake the rider 
from his seat, or fret and gall, instead of car- 
rying him at his ease. Grant me that happy 
mediocrity, which like a docile steed, bears a 
man more equably ; and obedient to the rein, 
is governed rather than governs. True then 
to these sentiments, I prefer my solitude, — 
my studies, — the delights of reading, — the 
peace of my own mind, to the palaces of prin- 
ces, the bustle of politics, and all the wiles 
and favours of a court. Nor do I desire, as 
the fruit of my literary leisure, to be whelmed 
and agitated in the tide and tumult of public 
scenes ; but to bring at length, to the birth, 
the offspring which I have conceived ; and to 
\ give in a propitious hour to public view, such 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 223 

works as, however devoid of genius or learn- 
ing, may attest at least the industry of their 
author. To convince you that the latter ad- 
mits of no remission, I have by assiduous and 
intense application attained to the knowledge 
of the Hebrew and Chaldaic languages ; and 
am at present struggling with the difficulties \J 

of the Arabic. Such are the achievements which 
I have ever thought, and still think worthy the 
ambition of a nobleman ; though the expres- 
sion may contain as much satire as truth. . . 

I purpose to set out forthwith to 

Rome ; and to pass the winter there, if no- 
thing unexpected intervenes to counteract my 
intentions, and direct my steps elsewhere. 
Thence, possibly you may hear what profici- 
ency your friend Picus hath been able to make 
in his sequestered, monkish retirement; how 
far (if I may assume the tone of arrogance,) 
he will be found to stand in need of literary 
assistance from the assemblage of literati, 
which, you assure him he will not fail to meet 
with in that city. But, be he at Rome, or 
where else he may, the princes of Italy will 
not be destitute of sycophants, willing enough 
to bend to their caprice, and, as Plautus ex- 
presses it, " to be whirled about like a hand- 
mill at their pleasure." 

" What you write on the subject of matri- 
mony," continues Picus, " is not, I fancy, 
mere random matter; nor without its scope 
and aim : but I am Davus, — not (Edipus : 
(Edipus, at least, I chuse not to be on this oc- 
casion. Whatever be your meaning, deign to 
be more explicit ; otherwise be Harpocrates. 
Let things turn as they may, I am prepared 
for the defensive. You need not be so pres- 



224 MEMOIRS OF 

sing for my Italian verses ; to the composition 
of love sonnets, I have long since bid adieu ; 
having other things in contemplation." 

What immediately follows, relates to the 
misconduct of one of the domestics of Pi- 
cus, who had repaid his indulgence with 
great ingratitude. But the conclusion of 
this epistle is too singular to be omitted. 
" In apologizing to our Floreanus for your 
friend's unfortunate amour, you have dis- 
charged a duty. He may indeed find both in 
the historians, in the poets, and even in phi- 
losophy itself, wherewithal to extenuate his 
fault. He may shelter himself in the frailties 
of the greatest characters ; even of David and 
of Solomon ; not to mention Aristotle, who 
while he raved after women of loose character, 
so far forgot his own precepts on ethics, as to 
celebrate to the frail object of his passion, the 
same rites which were paid to Eleusinian Ceres. 
But this unfortunate person is so far from 
seizing and availing himself of these bul- 
warks, tending to ward off, or even to repel 
crimination, that he abhors, rejects and dis- 
claims them. He publishes his crime, instead 
of deprecating animadversion. He mourns, 
but attempts not to palliate it. On this very 
account, 1 think, he has a juster claim on the 
forgiveness of the public, because he refuses to 
forgive himself. Nothing surely is more frail 
than man ; nothing more potent than love. 
Even the unconquered, the unshaken mind of 
St. Jerome, in the midst of its absorption in 
celestial contemplations, could wander after 
the female, sportive dance. That temptation 
which could produce in the saint a momentary 
distraction, — what other would it not subdue? 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 225 

If love could so far prevail in the desert,— on 
the flinty couch, — amidst severe fastings and 
macerations ; — how should he not,^-on a bed 
of down, — in shady bowers, and amidst an 
assemblage of delights ? That man moreover, 
may justly complain of Neptune, who has 
only once suffered shipwreck. Should he 
strike again on the same rock, none will pity 
him, or stretch the assisting hand. We can- 
not but excuse him, whose repentance is so 
severe that he deems himself unworthy of 
either lenity or excuse. But of this perhaps, 
too much ; since your friend, so far from 
wishing that the memory of the circumstance 
should be perpetuated by writing, is wholly 
intent on covering it by the purity of his 
future life, with entire oblivion. Adieu. 
Commend me in the warmest terms to your 
lord, and the whole family of Borromeo, for 
which I have always cherished, and still retain 
the sincerest affection. From Perugia, Oc~ 
tober 15, I486." 

The love of fame, and a too ardent thirst 
for praise, have perhaps, justly been imputed 
to Pic us, as constituting his ruling passion, 
(notwithstanding the modesty and diffidence 
with which he frequently speaks of his own 
talents and productions,) especially if the 
charge be restricted to that period of his life, 
when maturer experience, and those religious 
impressions by which his latter years were 
more especially influenced, had not yet com- 
bined to rectify the errors of youth. We have, 
in part, seen the almost miraculous precocity 
of his attainments ; which, as circumstances 
that have claimed, or will hereafter demand 
our notice, fully evince, were confined neither 

G G 



226 MEMOIRS OF 

to the varied erudition of Greece or Rome, 
nor to the mere fashionable and elegant ac- 
complishments of the day. Caressed, flattered, 
courted, extolled as a prodigy of erudition, 
by the most distinguished scholars of his time, 
and not unconscious of his own qualifications 
and powers, we now behold him forming the 
bold design of exhibiting those qualifications 
and powers, in the most public manner, at 
Rome, on the most conspicuous theatre of the 
world. Of this project, it is not sufficient to 
say, that it subjected him to the certain charge 
of juvenile vanity and indiscretion ; as it tend- 
ed to expose him to the fiercest malignity of 
literary jealousy, and to all the fanatic rage 
of bigotted enthusiasm. The developement 
of this project however, constitutes the most 
prominent and conspicuous transaction of his 
whole life, and that by which he has chiefly 
been held up to the notice of succeeding 
ages. 
pid Epist. i n a letter to another of his friends, Picus 

lino, vid/o- speaks more explicitly of his meditated expe- 
peraejusjp. dition to Rome ; and that, in terms which 
might almost lead us to suppose that he con- 
ceived himself prompted to it by motives of 
religion and duty. ix You, my friend," says 
he, " kindly exhort me to remember the ad- 
vantages which nature, or rather education 
and study have bestowed upon me, and to 
think of answering those high expectations 
which the world has already been induced to 
form from my reputation and character. Con- 
scious of my own imbecillity, I pretend not to 
satisfy even the least sanguine of these expec- 
tations, by my own powers. The gracious 
and beneficent Father of lights, who has here- 



248. 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 227 

tofore accorded me those endowments which 
have excited, in whatever degree, the hopes 
of my fellow- men, will, I trust, at some fu- 
ture time, enable me to realize them. I shall 
speedily set out for Rome in order to hazard 
an experiment of my proficiency, probably not 
without hazard. " Romam propero, ubi de 
nostris studiis periculum, vel cum periculo 
faciemus." If my undertaking prove in any 
measure successful, it is to be attributed to 
the blessing of God ; his therefore be the 
praise : but if I fail, let it, as the natural con- 
sequence of my own weakness, be entirely 
attributed to myself," 

Early therefore in the month of November, 
A. D. I486, we discover our young literary 
adventurer apparently in high spirits, fully 
equipped for his journey to Rome ; and about 
to quit his domestic retreat, in order to pro- 
ceed upon this perilous enterprize. He defers 
his departure a few moments, merely to answer 
a letter addressed to him, probably from Flo- 
rence, by an unknown correspondent, who 
had written to consult him respecting a pas- 
sage of the Jewish historian Josephus ; and to p ^ ci °P er - p- 
solicit some other literary favours. iC Who- 
soever you are," says he, " I scruple not to 
call you my friend, since you stand so high in 
the esteem of Robertus Salviatus. If my books 
were at hand for consultation, I would answer 
your questions more at large ; but they are 
gone before me to Rome, like so many pre- 
cursors, to announce the coming of their caiigatus et 
master. I myself in my boots and travelling petasatus. 
habiliments, ready to follow them, have has- 
tily taken up my pen to address you in this 
style of jocularity and freedom." After reply- 
g g 2 






A 






228 MEMOIRS OF 

ing to the queries of his correspondent respect- 
ing Josephus, he thus proceeds : u As to the 
Chaldaic alphabet, with which you request 
me to favour you, though fully disposed to 
oblige you in every thing that depends upon 
my own option, as you have not obtained the 
vidf goijfmet' consent of Mithridates, I cannot gratify you 
sium in Italia in this instance, on account of my engage- 
le" Hamburg, ments with him. He peremptorily refused to 
i73o,in4to. teach me the Chaldaic language, until he had 
exacted a formal and solemn oath, that I 
should, on no account, communicate it to 
any person whomsoever. Of the truth of this, 
my friend Hieronymus Benivenius himself can 
certify you ; who on a certain day being ac- 
cidentally present whilst I was receiving a 
lesson, Mithridates, in a violent rage actually 
thrust him out of the room. But that your 
application may not prove entirely fruitless, I 
send you, as a substitute for the Chaldaic, the 
inclosed Arabic alphabet, which I have tran- 
scribed for your accommodation with my own 
hand." E,v Fratta. Nov. 10, I486. 

Picus upon his arrival at Rome, published 
his " Conclusiones ;" (t) consisting of nine 
hundred propositions, or subjects of discus- 



(t) At the head of these "Conclusiones," appears 
the following prograinma, or challenge. 

Joannes Picus Mirandula Lectori. 

De adscripts numero noningentis DIALECTI- 
CS, MORALIBUS, PHYSICIS, M AT H E M AT I C I S, MeTA- 

physicis, Theologicis, Magicis, Cabalisticis, 

cum suis tum sapientum Chaldiorum, Arabum, 
Hebr-£orum,Gracorum,£gyptiorum, Latinorum- 
que Placitis, Disputabit publice Joannes Picus 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 229 

sion, in almost every science, that could ex- 
ercise the speculation or ingenuity of man ; 
and which, extraordinary and superfluous as 
many of them appear to a reader of the present 
times, certainly furnish a more adequate idea 
of the boundless extent of his erudition and 
research, than any words can describe. These 
he promised publicly to maintain against all 
opponents whatsoever: and that time might 
be allowed for the circulation of his " Con- 
clusiones, " through the various universities of 
Italy, in all of which, he caused them to be 
published, (v) notice was given, that the 



M.IRANDULANUS, CONCORDIA COMES : IN QUIBUS 
RECITANDIS NON ROMANCE LINGUAE NITOREM, SED 
CELEBRATISSIMORUM PaRISIENSIUM DISPUTATORUM 
DICENDI GENUS EST IMITATUS, PROPTEREA QUOD 
EO NOSTRI TEMPORIS PHILOSOPHI PLERIQUE OMNES 

utuntur, &c." (Pici oper. p. 42. ) 

" On the annexed nine hundred theses, relating to dialec- 
tics, ethics, physics, mathematics, metaphysics, theology, ma- 
gic, and the cabala, partly his own, partly collected from the 
works of Chaldaic, Arabic, Hebrew, Grecian, Egyptian and 
Latin sages, Joannes Picus of Mirandula, Count of Concordia, 
will dispute publicly. In the detail of these theses, instead 
of adhering to the rules of classic elegance, he hath pur- 
posely adopted the manner and diction of the most celebrated 
Parisian disputants, the same being in most general use 
amongst the philosophers of our times." 

Thus in one part of his " Apologia/' he observes ; " Mu- 
tanda loquendi ratio est mihi ; enim cum barbaris sermo, et 
(ut lepide est in proverbio) balbi non nisi balbos intelligunt." 
( Apologia, pag. S'hJ And in another passage, speaking of 
what he had already written upon a certain subject in a more 
classical style, he says, " Sed ilia forte non magis ab istis 
magistris intelligentur, quam intelligentur barbara ab erudi- 
tis ; quare et hie aliquid secum hoc Parisiensi stylo 
dicemus,&c." (Apolog. p. 116. J 

[v) The following additional words said to be subjoined 






£30 MEMOIRS OF 

public discussion of them was not intended to 
take place, till after the feast of the Epiphany 
next ensuing. A further object of this delay- 
was to afford to all scholars, even from the 
remotest of these seats of learning, who were 
desirous to be present and to assist at his 
disputations an opportunity of repairing to 
Rome, for such a purpose. So desirous was 
Picus of attracting thither, on this occasion, 
all the united wit, ingenuity and erudition 
that Italy could boast ; that he engaged to 
defray, out of his own purse, the charges of 
all scholars from whatever part, who should 
undertake the journey to Rome for the pur- 
pose of disputing publicly with him on the 
subjects proposed. 

This undertaking of Picus, however ex- 
traordinary it may at present appear, was in 
some measure sanctioned by the custom of his 
own age, in which public disputations were 
not unusual or unprecedented. He had for- 
tified himself with the express permission of 
Innocent VIII. who at this time occupied the 
chair of St. Peter. He studiously and avow- 
edly professed all possible deference to the au- 
thority of the church, solemnly engaging to 
support his theses, only " sub apostolical 
sedis correetione." Nay more, when in his 
list of " Conclusiones," after a great number 



to these M Conclusiones" in the earliest, have been omitted 
in the subsequent editions : "Conclusiones non dis- 

PUTABUNTUR NISI POST EPIPHANIAM: INTERIM PUBLI- 
CABUNTUR IN OMNIBUS lTALIJE GYMNASIIS: ET SI QUIS 
PHILOSOPHUS AUT THEOLOGUS AB EXTREMA ITALIA, 
ARGUENDI GRATIA, RoMAM VENIRE VOLUERIT, IPSE 
POLLICETUR DOMINUS DISPUTATU RUS, SE VIATICI EX- 
PENSES ILLI SOLUTURUM DK SUO." 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. ,231 

to be maintained, " secundum opinionem ali- 
orum," he introduces no fewer than five hun- 
dred il secundum opinionem propriam, " of 
these he says, c< nihil assertive, vel probabiliter 
pono, nisi quatenus id vel verum vel probabile 
judicat sacrosancta Romana ecclesia et caput 
ejus ben& meritum, Pontifex Innocentius Oc- V ide "Con- 
tavus : cuius iudicio qui mentis sua? judicium clusiones " 

J . .' J . n , » . „ y opeium, pag. 

non summittit, mentem non habet. 56. 

The boldness of this challenge could not 
fail to astonish the learned in general : but 
astonishment soon gave place to envy ; and 
the Roman scholars and divines in particular, 
whose credit was more immediately implicated, 
conscious perhaps, of their own inability to 
contend with this prodigy of erudition on 
equal terms, thought only of the means of 
precluding him from the opportunity of evin- 
cing his superiority in this popular and fashi- 
onable exercise. The lampoon and pasqui- 
nade, and such other literary weapons as timi- 
dity sheltered by secrecy could devise, were 
those to which they first had recourse. These 
being found -insufficient to intimidate the 
youthful champion, a more effectual expedi- 
ent was adopted. Of the theses thus published 
by Picus, thirteen were selected as containing 
matter of an heretical tendency. Though 
jealousy of those stupendous qualifications, 
which, combined with the advantages of illus- 
trious birth, personal nobility, and great af- 
fluence, seemed to open to the person in whom 
they inhered a certain way to every honour 
and dignity that he could possibly desire, was, 
as before observed, the primary motive to this 
procedure ; yet some well disposed though 
ignorant persons were not wanting to join in 



232 MEMOIRS OF 

the cry of heresy. They were persuaded that 
many of the theses of Picus must contain the 
germ of danger to the church, because they 
were expressed in terms to which their ears 
had been totally unaccustomed, or related to 
branches of science of which they had never 
heard so much as the nariies. It was of no 
avail, to urge that various doctors of the Ro- 
mish church had, previously to their publica- 
tion, perused the theses in question, and by 
subscribing them expressed their sanction of 
the whole. This, amongst others, the learned 
Buonfranscesco had done, who was bishop of 
Reggio, and at that juncture sustained the 
character of ambassador to the pope from the 
duke of Ferrara. Thus, though Picus con- 
tinued at Rome a whole year, in expectation 
of reaping the harvest of praise which his juve- 
nile vanity had led him to desire, he at last 
found himself not only debarred from all op- 
portunity of signalizing himself publicly, as a 
disputant, but involved in a charge of he- 
. terodoxy : a charge, which of all others he had 

Vita Joannis ■. . J «. j "j. • ' - / \ 

pici,aNe P ote least expected to incur, (w) 

ejus scripta. 

[jo) The formal discussion of the " Conclusiones" of 
Picus, certainly never took place. The following are the 
express words of Giovan - Francesco Pico : " Obtrec- 
tatorum simultate (quae semper, velut ignis, alta petit) 

NUNQ.UAM EFFICERE POTUIT UT DIES A LTER C ATION IS 

pRiEsxiTERETUR. Ob hanc causam, Romoe annum mansit ; 
quo tempore vitiligatores illi, palam eum et libero examine 
non audebant aggredi ; sed strophis potius, et cuniculis su- 
gillare, clanculariisque telis suffodere, pestifera corrupti 
invidia, (ita enim arbitrati sunt plurimi) conabantur." (Vita 
Pici, Operibus prctfixa.J Yet Varillas, the most impudent of 
all falsifiers of historical truth, not only affirms that these 
\ disputations did take place, but enters minutely into the 

detail of this fictious debate. The theses, he says, were 



PICUS OF MIRAttDULA. 233 

Such is the account which his nephew and 
biographer has given of the more immediate 
consequences of this adventure. But let us 
hear Picus himself, who soon afterwards had 
occasion to advert to the same circumstances. 
" Having gone," savs he, " to Rome, to pav ..-.'. 

i i i & . " i • • m } Apologia, a- 

the usual homage to the sovereign pontiff (pe- pud mmum. 
des summi pontificis, Innocentii VIII. de 
more deosculaturus) at the same time, in con- 
formity with my uniform habits and object, 



maintained publicly; and before such a prodigious concourse 
of the learned, as was never assembled together on any 
other occasion. He particularly describes, not only the 
countenance and person, but also the manner, the elocution, 
the grace, the tones, the fire of the speaker. (Anecdotes de 
Florence; p. 196, 12mo. A la Haye, 1 685. ) This howe- 
ver, is only one out of numerous misrepresentations which 
deservedly degrade that author's work, from the rank of a 
history to that of a mere romance. 

Janus Nicius Erythraeus, (inPinacothecd iii. p. 178, Lips. 
1692, Svo.J instituting a kind of parallel between Picus 
and Alexander Cherubinus, a person remarkable for similar 
prodigious attainments and powers; relates a story to the. 
following purport: When Picus had published at Rome 
those nine hundred subjects for disputation, found at the 
head of his works, which he proposed to maintain ex sug- 
gesto, against all opponents; Thomas de Vio, afterwards 
cardinal, placing himself upon the seat opposite the pulpit 
where Picus stood, enumerated one hundred arguments by 
which he intended to impugn and overturn so many of the 
positions of Picus. Picus beginning with the last of these 
arguments, recapitulated the whole so exactly, that Thomas, 
rushing from the seat which he occupied, exclaimed, " Tace, 
tace sis ! jam tua ista repetitione mihi factum est satis." 
Desist, desist, I entreat you ; this repetition of yours has 
fully satisfied me. This relation is reconcileable with pro- 
bability. Though the " Conclusibnes" were never formally 
agitated, Picus, in the course of that year which he passed 
at Rome, frequently perhaps, indulged in what might be 
considered as prceludia, or exercises preparatory to his great 
project ; and occasionally gratified his friends with specimens 
of his talents and argumentative powers. 
H H 



234 . MEMOIRS OF 

which prompt me continually to discuss or 
illustrate some literary subject, willing to per- 
form something, as far as in me lay, compati- 
ble with the dignity of this great city, agreea- 
ble to the prince of the church, advantageous 
to myself and all who were studiously dis- 
posed, I drew up nine hundred questions on 
theological and natural subjects ; concerning 
which I undertook to respond publicly in a 

feneral session of the learned. Scarcely had 
attracted public notice, when a numerous 
and mixed croud of calumniators started up 
against me. Amongst various expressions of 
contempt, derision, obloquy and similar indi- 
cations of displeasure, adopted by individuals 
according to the views and temper of each, 
five special charges, in particular, were alledg- 
ed by the whispers of malevolence against me. 
One party, avowing their dislike of philoso- 
phy and learning in general, observed (in the 
true character of sciolists, ) that as Adam was 
thrust out of Paradise, for affecting by the 
knowledge of good and evil to make himself 
like God, so those equally deserve to be ex- 
terminated from the church of Christ who 
seek to know more than they ought. Another 
excepted not so much against philosophy it- 
self, as this particular mode of disputing and 
publicly cavilling on literary subjects, judg- 
ing it rather calculated for parade and an os- 
tentatious display of ingenuity, than the fur- 
therance of real learning. A third party at- 
tributed to me no small share of confidence 
and temerity, for pretending at such an age, 
(not having then compleated my four and 
twentieth year,) to descant on the profoundest 
topics of philosophy, the most sublime myste- 



PICUS OF MTRANDULA. Q35 

ries of Christian theology, sciences the most 
abstruse and unheard of; and this, in the chief 
city of the world, before the most dignified 
assemblage of the learned. A fourth was less 
offended, that at Rome : that at so juvenile age ; 
than that I pretended to discuss such a num- 
ber of questions, that is to say, not fewer than 
nine hundred ; censuring the undertaking as 
superfluous, pregnant with conceit, and be- 
yond my powers. And lastlv, those who as 
professors of theology had the greatest pre- 
tensions to wisdom, not satisfied with these 
lighter calumnies, pronounced me, not merely 
impudent, rash, arrogant ; but a magician, 
an impious wretch, a new heresiarch in the 
church of Christ. (#) 



(x) Among the obnoxious " Conclusiones " of Picus, 
there certainly are several which evince great boldness of 
speculation, and bring into question some of the leading 
doctrines of the Romish church. Such perhaps, is that u Nee 
crux Christi, nee ulla imago adoranda est adoratione latriae." 
What shall we say of that position, that " sine conversione 
substantia panis in corpus Christi, vel paneitatis annihilatione, 
fieri potest, ut in altari sit corpus Christi secundum veritatem 
sacramenti." Notwithstanding the qualification which im- 
mediately follows, " quod sit dictum, loquendo de possibili, 
non de sic esse" to Picus might justly be applied that sen- 
timent of the Apulian bard : (Carm. Lib. ii. Ode I. J 

P Periculosae plenum opus aleae 
Tractas : et incedis per ignes 
Suppositos cineri doloso," 

Does not the following moreover, which is one of the " Con- 
clusiones" that was judged erroneous, " et haeresim sapiens/' 
bespeak a candour and liberality, which was very foreign 
from the spirit of that communion of which he was a member ? 
" Sicut nullus praecise, sic opinatur, quia vult sic opinari, 
jta nullus credit sic esse verum praecise, quia vult sic cre- 
dere." From this conclusion, Picus himself (in Apologia, p, 
H H 2 






$36 MEMOIRS OF 

Innocent VIII. though naturally of a mild 
and pacific temper, stunned with the clamo- 
rous representations of those who thought 

1 48,J deduces the following, by way of corollary. " Non 
est in libera potestate hommis credere articulum fidei esse 
verum, quando sibi placet, et credere eum non esse verum 
quando sibi placet." Is not this, in reality, one of the 
chief axioms upon which mutual toleration in religious 
opinions amongst protestants is founded ? The good sense of 
Picus led him to suspect and discover many of those errors 
and impositions of the church of Rome, which were after- 
wards by Luther and others so boldly exposed. But perhaps, 
like Erasmus, he found himself not possessed of sufficient 
courage to become a martyr. In composing his " Apolo- 
gia," all his skill and dexterity in argument were requisite to 
extricate him from the snare which his own ingenuousness 
had assisted to weave. 

In the discussion of another of the " damnatae Conclu- 
siones," (Apologia, p. \16.) Picus relates an anecdote 
which would do honour to the pages of the " Epistolae Ob- 
scurorum Virorum. M When one of those divines, who 
were so clamorous in the cry of heresy against our youthful 
disputant, was asked what was the meaning of that word 
tf Cabala," which so often occurred in the u Conclusiones" 
of Picus, he replied, that there was a certain very wicked 
and diabolical person, whose name was " Cabala," and that 
he had written largely against Jesus Christ; whence his fol- 
lowers had been denominated Cabalists. " Quinimo audi 
rem ridiculam. Cum semel quidam ex iis interrogaretur 
quid esset ista Cabala ? Respondit ille, fuisse perfidum 
quendam hominem et diabolicum, qui dictus est Cabala : 
et hunc multa contra Christum scripsisse ; inde sequaces 
ejus dictos Cabalistas. Quis, quaeso, risum teneat ? " 
(Picus in Apologia, p. \)6.) Picus devotes a long article 
in his " Ai ologia" to the elucidation of that thesis of his, 
" Rationabilius est credere Origenem esse salvum, quam cre- 
dere ipsum esse damnatum." His discussion of this point is 
divided into seven heads; and in the seventh he proposes to 
inquire, on the supposition that Origen has been condemned 
by the church, " Quantum obllget in ista materia creduli- 
tatem nostram determinatio Ecclesiae ?" " I demonstrate to 
you that Origen has erred; demonstrate to me that he ever 
repented," was the constant cry of these zealots. (Isti ma- 
y gistri nunquam clamare destiterunt, " Ostendo tibi Origenem 



PICUS OF MI RAN DU LA. 237 

they had discovered amongst the " Conclu- 
siones" of Picus so many of an injurious ten- 
dency, (ficlei et religion! contrarias, scanda- 
losas et male sonantes, ac de non sana doctrina 
suspectas) and moreover, as our authority in- 



errasse, ostendas tu mihi eura paenituisse : numquam hoc 
ostendes, Ike") To vindicate Origen from this charge of 
pertinacity in his errors, ard to undeceive one who insisted 
that the church had declared Origen to have perished in his 
perverseness, — Picus referred him to the testimon) of a cer- 
tain Greek author, and informed him where he might con- 
sult the work. " Why do you refer me to Greek books" 
(said the good father) " knowing me to be wholly ignorant 
of Greek r Let us appeal to the Latins. Have we not the 
" Fasciculus Temporum," which treats so eloquently of these 
matters ?" " Produce then your Fasciculus," answered Picus ; 
" Yet tell me, are you not contriving with this Fasciculus of 
yours to burn me as a heretic ? — If so, away with you and 
your Fasciculus ; the authority of which is good for nothing." 
The ecclesiastic in great wrath produced his Fasciculus, in 
which, subjoined to other matter concerning Origen, ap- 
peared this passage: ie Grandis labyrinthus a diversis texi- 
tur, de Samsone, Salomone, Trajano, et isto Origene, an vi- 
delicet salvati sint an non r quae quia sine periculo nesciun- 
tur, nee etiam Ecclesia certificata est de his, Domino totaliter 
committenda sunt :" Some persons have been in great per- 
plexity to determine whether Sampson, Solomon, Trajan, 
and this Origen were saved or not ? But as these are matters 
of which we may remain ignorant without danger ; and the 
church itself has obtained no certain information concerning 
them ; they must be wholly left to the Lord. " Thus, the 
good Fasciculus:" adds Picus. "When the man heard that 
the church knew nothing of the damnation of Origen, he 
turned pale; and while volumes of the most approved au- 
thorities could make no impression upon him, this Fasciculus 
had influence enough to induce him to change his opinion/' 
Vide Pici Apohgiam, pag. 14-2 — 3, where Picus relates ano- 
ther story of equally amusing import. These anecdotes 
serve at least to evince that Picus, during his residence at 
Rome, though he could not obtain a public discussion of 
his propositions, found sufficient exercise in private for his 
disputative talents. They also demonstrate that bigotry and 
ignorance are for the most part inseparable associates. 



238 memoirs or 

forms us, anxious to guard against schism, and 
to preserve untainted the minds of the faithful, 
and especially of the simple and unlearned, 
who were wont to flock to public disputations 
of this nature, (integritati fidei consulere vo- 
lens, ne fidelium mentes, et pra^sertim simpli- 
cium, qui ad hujusmodi publicas disputationes 
confluere solent, corrumperentur, ) was con- 
strained to issue an apostolic brief or mandate, 
enjoining certain bishops, professors and others 
to examine the obnoxious " Conclusiones," 
and make their report of the real nature and ten- 
dency of them. Meanwhile, in these adverse 
circumstances, there is reason to suppose that 
Pic us found it expedient to quit the city of 
Rome, and seek a temporary asylum at Flo- 
rence, in the friendship of Lorenzo de' Medici. 
He immediately set about the composition of 
his " Apologia;" a work which not only 
served to refute the calumnies of his enemies, 
but convinced the world that his pretensions 
to very extraordinary powers were not spurious 
or empirical. The object of it was to shew, 
not merely that the obnoxious theses contain- 
ed npthing inimical to the doctrines of the 
church ; but that nothing less than the gross- 
est ignorance, or the most malignant per- 
version, could have put upon them such 
a construction : and he concludes by duti- 
fully submitting, not only the work in ques- 
tion, but all those which he might afterwards 
publish, to the censure and authority of the 
Jioly see. 

This celebrated apology, notwithstanding 
the elaborate discussions which it involves, 
and the multifarious learning which it evinces, 
was completed in the short period of twenty 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 239 

days, (3/) an d inscribed by Picus to Lorenzo, 
his friend and patron, in language as ho- 
nourable to the grateful sensibilities of the 
one, as to the generosity and shining qualities 
of the other. " To you, Lorenzo, I have de- Picioper. 
dicated this apology; not, I can most seriously pas * 7<3 * 
•aver, because I deem it worthy of so great a 
personage, but because it is your most un- 
doubted right : since to you I owe my all. 
Be assured that every thing I am, or may 
hereafter be, shall henceforward continue 
yours, with the same religious devotion. 
Words are too cold to express the ardency of 
my gratitude, — the love, fidelity, and respect, 
which your long tried kindnesses have excited 
in my breast." — After paying a further tribute 
to the distinguished virtues of Lorenzo, which 
he declares exceeded in brilliancy the singular 
magnificence of his fortunes, he intreats him 
to consider the respect which he is desirous of 
testifying on all occasions for his great cha- 
racter, as his sole motive for addressing to 
him the present work ; utterly disclaiming all 
vainglorious intentions, all views of courting 
praise for a performance which he terms the 
reluctant fruit of his hasty vigils ; extorted by 
necessity, and treating on subjects which he 
should otherwise have deemed foreign from 

his purpose. Ibid. pag. 7b. 

This apology, on its completion, Picus 
transmitted to the Roman pontiff. Innocent 



(y) " Haec ut nunc est, properante stylo mihi dictata 
sint/ scripturo alias majore ocio et cura ; ut plura ita fortasse 
meliora. Hoc ipsum qualecunque est opus, viginti est 
noctibus elucubratum ; quo edendo, celeritas mihi optanda 
magis fuit quam diligentia." (Apolog. p. 156. J 



240 MEMOIRS OF 

VIII. how much soever he might be satisfied 
with the arguments adduced by the author in 
his own vindication, was however informed by 
those to whom he had committed the cogni- 
sance of this affair, that a public agitation of 
some of these questions might possibly lead to 
a latitude of investigation dangerous to the 
faith. While therefore, he fully acquitted Pi- 
cus of all pravity of intention, he thought 
proper to issue a mandate, that the little vo- 
lume in which they were contained, should be 
suppressed, and the perusal of it no longer 
allowed. Reflection had so far altered the 
views of Picus himself on this head, that they 
coincided with those of the pope. He had 
spontaneously intreated his friends to content 
themselves with the perusal of his apology, 
leaving the questions at large undiscussed and 
unnoticed ; adding, that though he had inserted 
none with any culpable intention ; yet many 
of them, being suitable for academical exercises 
only, or for discussion in the social circles of 
the learned, were improper for the public ear ; 
others of them could only be argued hypothe- 
tically, as a mere trial of skill ; since they were 
connected with the erroneous systems of those 
philosophers, whose opinions he had ever con- 
demned, as deviating as far from right reason, 
as they were hostile to the catholic faith. He 
concludes his apology with the following 
words: " Let then my enemies refrain from 
the perusal of these theses, because they are 
mine ; my friends — because they may possibly 
deduce inferences from them, which are not 

Apologia, ap. millC 

fincm - Such was the issue of this project, sug- 

gested by youthful vanity and ambition ; and 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 241 

Picus afterwards acknowledged with thank- 
fulness, that divine providence, which often 
educes good out of evil, had rendered the 
malevolence of his enemies a most salutary 
check to the career of vain-glory, in which he 
had been led so far astray. 

" A sceptic of the last century (La Mothe f ir , R - cla y- 
de Vayer)" says M. Tenhove, " has spoken of Tenhove" 
of Picus with contempt, because he affected Vo1, '■ p - 329, 
to dispute " de omni scibili ;" but does it fol- 
low, asks that author, from his being when a 
child ready to answer questions on any subject, 
that he afterwards wanted understanding?" 
Perhaps the sarcasm of De Vayer merits little 
notice. That Picus however, could not with 
propriety be termed a child, appears both from 
those notes of time indirectly furnished by his 
biographer, and his own express testimony. 
His nephew, moreover, speaking of that ora- 
tion which he had composed, and intended 
to recite at Rome, if the projected dispu- 
tations had taken place, and which is still 
extant, pronounces it a surprising proof of 
the genius and erudition of a person who was 
then only in his twenty-fourth year. 

But Picus had not yet seen an end of all 
the disagreeable consequences of this affair. 
His enemies, frustrated in their primary aims, 
began to cavil against the " Apologia" itself. 
They affirmed, that by the very act of discuss- 
ing the obnoxious questions, which he had 
undertaken to explain so conformably to the 
sense of the church, he had contravened the 
solemn engagement into which he had for- 
merly entered, not to anticipate the decisions 
of the holy see. 

He had now set out upon a tour into 
i i 






%¥1 MEMOIRS OF 

France, as well with a view of gratifying his 
taste by visiting the different academies of 
that kingdom, as with the hope that during 
his absence, the storm which had been raised 
against him would be permitted to subside. 
So earnestly however, were these new represen- 
tations pressed against him at the court of Rome, 
that Innocent was persuaded to issue a new 
mandate, citing him to appear in that city 
within a given time, to meet these new alle- 
gations. This mandate Picus received with 
implicit submission and obedience. Having, 
on his way to Rome, paid a visit to Florence, 
perhaps from a desire to confer with his friend 
Lorenzo de' Medici on the subject of his new 
difficulties, he appears to have received a new 
and most unequivocal proof of the affectionate 
regard of the latter. The sway which Lorenzo 
possessed at this juncture in the court of Rome, 
, and the influence which he exercised over the 
mind of the supreme pontiff, are clear from the 
histories of these times. But whatever might 
be the occasion of so favourable a change in 
this affair of Picus, certain it is, that he re- 
ceived an express indulgence from Innocent, 
countermanding his journey to Rome, and 
permitting him to take up his residence in the 
vicinity of Florence. His final acquittal how- 
ever, from this complicated charge of heresy 
and perjury, and from all the inquisitorial 
prosecutions, pains,, and penalties annexed to 
these crimes, was reserved for a bull of Alex- 
ander VI. which bears date die 18. Junii : 
Pici Operib. 14Q3. (z) 



(:) Alexander, scrvus servorum Dei, dilecto filio, 
nobili viro, joanni pico, comiti MiRANDULiE. " Di- 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 243 



The bold and public experiment which 
Picus had lately meditated, evidently pre-sup- 
posed an extraordinary degree of confidence 



lecte fi!i, salutem et apostolicam benedictionem. Om- 
nium catholicorum quieti et famae, eorum prsesertim 
quos generis nobilitas, literarum disciplina, vilae fideique 
orthodoxae integritas commendat, quantum cum Deo licet, 
consulimus. Dudum siquidem, cum primum ad Innocen- 
tium Papam VIII. praedecessorem nostrum, et Romanam 
curiam te contulisses; et Noningentas in Theologia, et aliis 
facultatibus conclusiones, ex permissione praefati praedeces* 
soris, publice (ut moris est) disputandas affixisses, quas sub 
apostolicae sedis correctione, te sustentare offerebas ; et dic- 
tus praedecessor inter illas, aliquas fidei et religioni nostras 
contrarias, erroneas, scandalosas, et male sonantes, ac de non 
sana doctrina suspectas, ab aliquibus intellexisset ; tunc in- 
tegritati fidei consulere volens, ne fidelium mentes (et praeser- 
tim simplicium qui ad hujusmodi publicas disputationes con- 
fluere solent) corrumperentur ; nonnullis venerabilibus fratri- 
bus, tunc suis, tunc nostris episcopis, et aliis sacras theolo- 
giae, ac utriusque juris professoribus per eum nominatis per 
literas suas, in forma, brevis, commisit, et mandavit, ut 
contenta in dictis conclusionibus examinarent, an aliquas 
ex illis, ex vi verborum a fide catholica. dissonarent, aut 
haeresim saperent : seu dubiae et ancipites, ad erroneum 
sensum trahi possent : et ipsi praedecessori referrent, sicuti 
plenius in dicto brevi continetur ; ut habita rideli relatione 
eorum, opportune provideret. Qui quidem episcopi et pro- 
fessores, eidem predecessor! retulerunt, quasdam sibi videri 
conclusiones suspectas, et ut asserebant, haeresim sapientes; 
quas tamen conclusiones, gratia tantum scholasticae disputa- 
tionis, ac sub apostolicae sedis correctione disputandas pub- 
licaveras, et tales demum eas te habiturum professus es, 
quales per eundem praedecessorem nostrum judicarentur : 
jurejurando promittens, cuicunque declaration], quam ipsum 
praedecessorum super hoc facere contingeret, assensurum. 
Deinde vero per dictum praedecessorem, accepto te quen- 
dam alium librum Apologeticum edidisse, in quo easdem 
conclusiones, in meliorem et catholicum sensum declarans, 
interpretabaris, et circa eas intellectum sincerae fidei explica- 
bas, idem praedecessor, ne praemissae propositiones corda fide- 
lium quoquomodo corrumperent, interdixit lectionem libelli 
I I 2 



244 MEMOIRS OF 

in his own natural and acquired resources. It 
was to commit his reputation, at once, to the 



praedictarum noningentarum conclusionum ; te tamen nulla ob 
praemissa incurrisse existimationis notam dcclaravit, ut in 
eisdem Uteris, quarum tenorem hie pro expresso haberi vo- 
lumus, latius continetur. Verum, eidem praedecessori pos- 
tea aliquibus suggerentibus, praetextu dicti Apologetici te 
praemisso juramento tuo eontravenisse, te in Gailiis agen- 
tem, ad curiam citari mandavit; cujus mandatis reverenter 
acceptis, ad Romanam curiam regressui us iter arripuisti : 
cumque in Italiam pervenisses, ex beneplacito ipsius prae- 
decessoris in partibus Florentiae substitisti. Interim vera 
praemissis ad nostram notitiam deductis, inquisitaque per 
nos totius negocii veritate, compertoque et praesertim refe- 
rentibus venerabili fratre nostra Georgio episcopo Alba- 
nensi, et Ulixbonensi, ac dilectis filiis Joanne Baptista de 
Ursinis, Tituli Sanctorum Joannis et Pauli presbytero, et 
Francisco, Sancti Eustachii diacono, sanctae Romanae eccle- 
siae cardinalibus, quibus specialiter commiseramus, ut adhi- 
bito secum dilecto fiiio Paulo Genuensi, theologiae ac ordinis 
sancti Dominici professore, et sacri palatii Apostolici magis- 
tro, se accurate informarent, et nobis referrent, nihil aliud 
postea contra te actum, processum, seu altentatum fuisse; 
quodque in eodem Apologetico quod in orthodoxam fidem, 
a cujusvis suspicionis nota, mentem tuam apud omnes reve- 
landam scripseras, judicium et determinationem ipsius prae- 
decessoris, ac sedis Apostolicse, cui te humiliter submisisti, 
continue expectare affirmabas, et in praemissa promissione 
et juramento tuo perstiteris, prout etiam persistere intendis, 
et denuo etiam promittis. Ideo nos bonam et integram 
mentem et sinceritatem fidei, ac in nos et sedem Apostoli- 
cam devotionem et obedientiam tuam, paterno affectu com- 
plectentes; ac te quern etiam divina largitas variis virtutibus 
illustravit, pro potiori cautela tua, ab omni reatu perjurii, 
si quern etiam fbrsan indirecte, diclo juramento tuo, cujus 
ibrmam hie haberi volumus pro expresso, aliquo modo con- 
traveniendo incurrisses. absolyentes et absolutum fore cen- 
sentes, causam commissionis hujusmodi ad versus te, et illius 
statum individualem pro expresso etiam habentes, et quantus 
pendeat coram quibuscunque judicibus, etiam sanckc Ro- 
mana? ecclesia? cardinalibus, ad nos advocantes, motu pio- 
prio, et ex certa scientia extinguimus: teque ill eodem jura- 
mento tuo persistentem, juxla i'onnam literarum ipsius pr.r- 
decessoris, nulJam omnino propter praemissa incurrisse exis- 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 245 

most hazardous die. Yet, however extrava- 
gant his project ; however it might partake of 
the spirit of literary chivalry ; he was not on 
this occasion actuated by any sudden or capri- 
cious impulse. His plan was deliberately form- 
ed and matured ; and he had called forth the 
extraordinary energies of his mind, to such 
preparatory exercises as were consistent with 
the magnitude and importance of the under- 
taking. Of this, a perusal of his nine hundred 
14 Conclusiones" might suffice to convince 
the reader ; but yet further testimony may be 
found in his oration " De HominisDignitate," 
composed in his previous retirement ; and 
with which he designed to open the intended 
solemnity. It is drawn up in the form of an 
immediate address to the august and numerous 
assemblage of doctors and literati who were 
expected to witness, or bear a part in his dis- 
putations ; and adorned with the diffuse graces 



timationis notam, et propter editionem declarationum et 
Apologetici, hujusmodi aut alias, nullam haeresis speciem, 
vel suspicionem, aut notam sinistram incurrisse, seu in cri- 
men veri vel ficti relapsi incidisse, aut poenas vel censuras in 
jure vel alias, contra haereticos vel de haeresi suspectos, con- 
tentas sive latas, quomodolibet incurrisse. Similibus motu 
et scientia, auctoritate praefata per praesentes decernimus et 
declaramus, inhibentes, districtiusque in vim sanctse obedi- 
ential mandantes, ordinariis locorum et commissariis, ac offi- 
ciahbus quibuscunque, etiam hereticae pravitatis inquisitori- 
bus, ne te praemissorum occasione quomodolibet molestare, 
seu inquirere praesumant, decernentes irritum et inane, si 
secus, super his a quoquam, quavis autoritate, scienter 
vel ignoranter contigerit attentari, praemissis necnon consti- 
tutionibus et ordinationibus Apostoiicis, caetensque in con- 
trarium facientibus, non obstantibus quibuscunque, de qut- 
bus etiam hie expresse facienda esset mentio specialis. Da- 
tum Romse, apud sanctum Petrum sub annulo Piscatoris, 
die xviij Junii. m.cccc.xciii. Pontificates anno primo." 



246* MEMOIRS OF 

of studied eloquence. But like a second Ori- 
gen, who may, not inaptly be considered, as 
in many respects his prototype, and with 
whose writings he was deeply conversant ; 
Picus, on this occasion, intermingles with the 
evidences of strong and vigorous powers of 
intellect, the reveries of a luxuriant and en- 
thusiastic imagination. What Dr. Jortin 
Ecclesiastical emphatically terms the "furor allegoric us," 
History, vol. peculiarly characterises this oration. Senti- 
Lom?. S i752,'in ments of the most dignified kind are here de- 
8vo - based, by an admixture of such as are derived 

from the illusions of platonism, and even from 
sources still more visionary and remote. The 
rites of heathen worship, the mythology and 
mysteries of Egypt and of Greece, the dreams 
of Mahometism, and the poetical rhapsodies of 
remotest times, are herein represented as con- 
curring with revelation, in adumbrating the 
same truths, and inculcating the same precepts. 
Such were the corruptions of Christianity, and 
such the enthusiasm of some of the most virtu- 
ous characters at this period. The admirers of 
what may be termed the profane erudition of 
classic times, were so extravagant as to adapt 
the phrase and character of the Augustan age 
to the habits and usages of their own social 
intercourse. The theologian, by an attach- 
ment equally overweening, was induced to 
invest the plain and simple truths of revelation 
with the incongruous garb of human philo- 
sophy. By those " fitfaXoi xevo(peoviai, xxi 
avlfiea-eig vyg ^ev^ccvv^ov ryuajeag," those pro- 
fane and vain babblings, and oppositions of 
science falsely so called," against which St. 
1 Tim. vi. 20. p au i warns his beloved disciple, the youthful 
fancy of Picus was doubtless led astray. 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 247 

In the proem to this oration, composed by 
Giovan- Francesco, his nephew, we are in- 
formed that it was made public after the de- 
cease of the author, in compliance with the 
urgent and repeated instances of the learned: 
and that Picus himself, had he been living, 
would probably have refused his consent to 
such a measure. A small portion indeed of 
the concluding materials of which it is com- 
posed, may be found interwoven in the former 
part of his " Apologia," the rest he kept stu- 
diously concealed, and communicated only to 
his most confidential friends. 

" I have read," (thus he commences his 
address,) " honourable and reverend auditors, 
in the remains of Arabic literature, that Ab- 
dallah the Saracen, being asked what object, 
on this great theatre of the universe, he 
deemed most worthy of admiration, answered, 
man. Trismegistus, with no unlike senti- 
ment, exclaims, ' ' Magnum, 6 Asclepi, miracu- 
lum est homo." Considering the reason of 
these assertions, I found myself unsatisfied 
with the arguments generally alledged in fa- 
vour of the dignity of human nature ; such as 
that man is the interlocutor between the deity 
and his creation ; holds intercourse with supe- 
riour intelligences ; is enabled by the sagacity 
of his perceptions, the light of intellect, and 
the researches of reason, to subject inferiour 
creatures to his dominion. That he is the 
priest of nature ; the link of that chain, which 
connects the shadows of time with the realities 
of eternity; termed by Persian sages, the more 
than hymeneal copula of the universe ; and by 
David, said to be little lower than the angels. 
Great and distinguishing as these characteris- 



248 MEMOIRS OF 

tics are, he appears to me to possess one privi- 
lege yet more admirable. " 

After an exordium thus calculated, by its 
novelty and importance, to command atten- 
tion, he proceeds to observe, that the wise 
and beneficent architect of the universe, hav- 
ing completed this stupendous fabrick, which 
teems in all its parts with varied being, one 
creature alone was wanting, capable of esti- 
mating the wisdom of its contrivance, admir- 
ing its magnitude, and delighting in its 
beauty* But therein, no solitary chasm re- 
mained to be filled. Man, unlike other orders 
of being, was to be circumscribed to no defi- 
nite destination. Placed in the midst of an 
immense scene, every where full and perfect 
in its distribution, his creator bade him look 
around, amidst the various orders of existen- 
ces, chuse his own model, and assume that 
rank which pleased him. The brute, (says 
Picus,) receives, on its entrance into being, 
those capacities and propensities which it can- 
not alter or exceed. The superiour intelli- 
gences were from the beginning, or soon 
afterwards became, what they must be to all 
eternity. To man, on his production, the 
Almighty Father gave the germ and seeds of 
multifarious existence. Which of these he 
shall culture, is left to his own choice. He 
may vegetate with the plant ; — he may sensua- 
lize himself into a brute ; — he may reason him- 
self into a celestial being ; — he may refine and 
spiritualize his nature into pure intellect, till 
he reach, or even surpass, the high destination 
of angelic essences, and each created being. 
This then, he argues, is the most valuable and 
admirable privilege of our nature : " Ut 

SIMUS QUOD ESSE VOLUMUS." 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 249 

After an exhortation to make the most of 
our high capabilities, to aim at the utmost 
height of intellectual improvement within our 
reach, in order that at length, transcending 
all middle flights, we may enter the immediate 
presence-chamber of divinity itself, and vie 
with Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones for pre- 
cedency of perfection ; he proceeds to point 
out that progressive course of discipline 
through which the mind must necessarily pass, 
for the attainment of so sublime an end. By 
the aid of ethics, or moral philosophy, the 
headstrong and vicious affections of our nature 
are to be reduced to due subordination. By 
dialectics, or the laws of ratiocination, the 
mind is to be purged from ignorance and false 
prejudice, and the reasoning powers invigo- 
rated and improved. Thus prepared, the can- 
didate is to be introduced into all those various 
departments of science which have respect to 
the philosophy of nature, in its largest accep- 
tation. The last and highest gradation, and 
to which the others are subservient and intro- 
ductory, he defines to be, theology, or the 
study and contemplation of the deity, in his 
own abstract and exalted nature. Such, in its 
minuter divisions, Picus asserts to be that scale 
of intellectual communication betwixt earth and 
heaven, of which the ladder in the patriarch's 
vision was a symbol ; and upon which, as it 
were step by step, man is permitted with the 
angels to ascend and descend, till the mind 
finds blissful and complete repose in the bosom 
of divinity. This is the superlatively happy 
and tranquil state, which is to constitute the 
soul's grand object and aim, throughout her 
whole career of knowledge. To this, ethics 

K K 




250 MEMOIRS OF 

shall concur, by harmonizing the passions ; 
dialectics — by controlling the jarring verbo- 
sity of disputation ; experimental philosophy — 
by correcting the errors of opinion and hypo- 
thesis ; till at length, nature, who according 
to Heraclitus, is the offspring of war, (ex bello 
genita) and hence by Homer, termed con- 
tention, and is therefore unable to put us in 
possession of solid peace, — conduct us to her 
divine mistress, theology ; who shall bestow- 
that beatific tranquillity, which the world tak- 
eth not away ; and unite the disputants of 
every sect and school, in that celestial bond 
of amity, which shall lead them to acquiesce 
together in the contemplation, love, and imi- 
tation of the great First Cause. 

This, in the view of Picus, is the sublime 
course of progressive discipline, shadowed or 
inculcated in the institutions of Moses ; from 
those who, as yet polluted, were compelled to 
abide without, to those, who by a gradual 
purification, and a successive participation in 
the rites of the sanctuary, were at length pre- 
pared to enter into the holy of holies. This 
was the scope of the ancient Grecian myste- 
ries, in their various progress of initiation : 
this the hidden meaning couched in the three 
rvwG? (WIov. celebrated Delphic sentences: this, the course 
E». of instruction veiled in the enigmatical pre- 

cepts of Pythagoras, the parables of Zoroaster 
and the Chaldees, and the mysterious dogmata 
of Moorish and Cabalistic philosophers : to 
demonstrate which, Picus having descanted 
at some length on their respective rites and 
doctrines, and the interpretation of them, 
proceeds to that which may be considered as 
the most interesting part of his oration, in the 
following terms. 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. £51 

u Such, learned and reverend fathers, are 
the reasons, that have not merely animat- 
ed, but impelled me to the study of philoso- 
phy : which I am led to say in answer to 
those who condemn such studies, especially 
in persons of rank or fortune ; — studies they 
are, I grant, unhappily for our age, held ra- 
ther in contempt, than honour : so deeply are 
the minds of men, in general, possessed with 
the unnatural and fatal maxim, " Aut nihil, 
aut paucis philosophandum :" as though to 
investigate, to familiarize ourselves with the 
causes of things, the operations of nature, the 
mechanism of the universe, the counsels of 
the Supreme Being, the mysteries of heaven 
and earth, were an attainment of no value, 
except so far as it were conducive to honours 
or emolument. The many, I say it with in- \. 
dignation, hold it no part of wisdom to cul- 
tivate the study of wisdom free from merce- 
nary views : so that we now see chaste MinerX 
va, sent by the peculiar favour of heaven 
to sojourn amongst men, every where ex- 
ploded, ridiculed, rejected ; without an advo- 
cate or friend, unless she consent, as it were 
to prostitute herself, in order to bring home 
the base reward of corruption, to fill the cof- 
fers of her admirers. And (what still more 
excites my regret and indignation) it is now 
become the open and avowed language, not 
of men of rank alone, but of philosophers 
themselves, that such studies are not worth 
following, because there are no stated' rewards, 
no settled stipends for their encouragement : 
they forget that the complaint itself proves how 
little title they have to the name which they 
bear. Men like these, whose whole lives are 
k k 2 



252 MEMOIRS OF 

devoted to ambition or lucre, can feel little 
attachment to truth for her own sake. As to 
myself, I can avow without a blush, that I 
have cultivated philosophy for herself alone ; 
and never, in my studies or lucubrations, 
sought or desired any other reward than the 
improvement of my own mind, and, what has 
been my supreme object, the discovery of 
truth. To truth indeed, so strong and ardent 
has been my attachment, that I have volunta- 
rily relinquished all care of my own affairs, 
public and private, to give myself wholly to a 
life of contemplation : a resolution, from 
which neither the calumnies of envy, nor the 
obloquy of wisdom's avowed foes, ever could, 
or shall hereafter, deter me. I have been 
instructed by philosophy herself, to comply 
rather with the dictates of my own conscience, 
than the opinions of others ; and to be solici- 
tous, not so much to escape ill language, as 
myself to avoid the commission of evil, both 
in word and action. 

I could not however, venerable fathers, 
but be sensible, that my proposed disputation 
would prove as acceptable and agreeable to 
you all, who favour useful knowledge, and 
have honoured me with your august presence, 
as it is offensive to others. For it does not 
escape me, that many have already condemn- 
ed, and still continue to blame my undertak- 
ing, on several accounts. They who strenu- 
ously and religiously persevere in a virtuous 
project, Commonly have not fewer, but more 
calumniators, than they who are perverse in 
evil. There are, who condemn this mode of 
public disputation, and discussion of literary 
topics, as rather calculated for the ostentation 



/ 

PICUS OF MIRANDULA. %53 

of learning and ingenuity, than for real im- 
provement in useful knowledge. There are, 
who though they object not to the mode of 
exercise, yet cannot approve that a person of 
my age, not yet having compleated his twenty- 
fourth year, should have the confidence to 
propose a disputation on the sublime mysteries 
of Christianity, — the profoundest points of phi- 
losophy, — the most abstruse sciences ; and 
that too, in this very populous city, and be- 
fore the most august assemblage of the learned. 
Allow him to dispute, say others, but surely 
this pretence of discussing nine hundred ques- 
tions, is an undertaking as vain and superflu- 
ous, as it is beyond the reach of his ability. 
To these objections I should long since have 
yielded, had the philosophy which I profess, 
instructed me so to do. The same would 
teach me to decline any reply to them, if I 
conceived that such reply must necessarily 
lead me to recrimination. But disavowing 
all intention to irritate and provoke ; and, 
malevolence equally apart from our minds as 
Plato affirms it to be from the celestial choirs ; 
— let us discuss with candour, the reasona- 
bleness both of my undertaking, and of the 
number of questions on which I propose to 
dispute. 

And first, to those who entirely arraign 
this public mode of disputation, my reply shall 
be short : since the impropriety, if such it 
must be deemed, is common to me, not only 
with you all, most worthy auditors, who have 
frequently discharged this function with great 
honour and credit to yourselves ; but with 
Plato, Aristotle, and the most approved phi- 
losophers of every age, who were ever actu- 



™^^— ™^^» 



£54 MEMOIRS OF 

ated by the conviction that no practice con- 
duces more to the discovery of that truth 
which was the object of their researches. As, 
by gymnastic exercises men's corporeal powers 
are invigorated, — so doubtless, by frequent 
exercises in this literary palcestra, their mental 
powers are rendered more vigorous and acute : 
and I am persuaded that the poets of antiquity 
by that armour of Pallas, so much celebrated 
in their songs,— the Hebrews, in affirming that 
iron is the symbol of the wise, meant to con- 
vey no other allusion than to these laudable 
contests, so highly favourable to the acquisi- 
tion of wisdom. Hence too, probably, the 
Chaldeans, in that man's horoscope who should 
prove a philosopher, always held it indispen- 
sible " ut Mars Mercurium triquetro aspectu 
conspiciat;" as though, without these oppo- 
sitions, these contests, all philosophy must 
become supine, and void of animation. 

But with those who deem me unequal to 
my undertaking, my method of defence is not 
so easy. If I assert my own sufficiency, I 
shall probably incur, the imputation of vanity 
and self-complacency :— if the contrary, I shall 
be pronouced rash and inconsiderate. Observe 
the difficulty in which I am involved ; — in 
what an arduous situation I stand ; being un- 
able, without the risk of incurring censure, to 
promise that of myself, which I cannot with- 
out censure, hereafter, fail to perform. I 
might say with Job, " there is a spirit in 
man ;" or with St. Paul to Timothy, " Let no 
man despise thy youth :" self-conviction how- 
ever, constrains me rather to confess, that 
from me nothing great or singular is to be 
expected. A student, an ardent admirer of 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. %55 

useful science, I willingly avow myself : 
but any pretension to superiour learning or 
wisdom, I do not arrogate. Let not then the 
voluntary assumption of so great a burthen 
upon my own shoulders, argue a want of con- 
sciousness of my own infirmity, but only a 
conviction that (what is peculiar to literary 
contests) in these trials of intellectual strength, 
there is an advantage even in being over- 
come. Hence then, the most feeble dispu- 
tant acts both allowably and commendably, 
not only when he does not decline, but even 
w T hen he invites the contest; since the van- 
quished derives not injury, but benefit from 
the victor ; departing from the field, by his 
means more experienced, and returning to 
any future combat better prepared. Animated 
with this hope, I, a feeble combatant, stand 
forward, not afraid to engage with the most 
redoubted and strenuous of you all. Whether 
in so doing I act inconsiderately or other- 
wise, the spectator will better judge from the 
event of the contest, than from my years. 

It remains, thirdly, that I reply to those 
who take umbrage at the number of questions 
which I have proposed to discuss : as if the 
responsibility reclined upon their own should- 
ers, and did not, however great it be, rest 
wholly on myself. What a morose and unrea- 
sonable conduct is that, which seeks to pre- 
scribe bounds to the labours of another; — and 
insists on mediocrity in an undertaking, which 
may be pronounced, in the language of Cicero, 
" eo melior quo major ! " In an attempt of 
such magnitude, I have no alternative but 
either to succeed or fail. If I fail, my ene- 
mies will doubtless condemn me : my friends 



256 



MEMOIRS OF 



: 



will find grounds of excuse in this consi- 
deration, that for so young a man, of talents 
so moderate, of so little erudition, in an af- 
fair of this arduous nature to fail, were more 
justly a subject of pardon than of accusation. 
Besides, in the opinion of the poet, 

— Si deficiimt vires, audacia certe 
Laus erit : in magnis et voluisse sat est. 

But, if in our own age, many, after the ex- 
ample of Gorgias the Leon tine, have been 
wont, not without credit to themselves, to 
propose disputations, — not merely on nine 
hundred topics, but on every question — in all 
sciences, — why may I not without censure, 
be permitted to dispute on points of science, 
numerous I grant, but all determined and as- 
certained ? 

"But this, at least," say they, "seems ambi- 
tious and superfluous." I contend that it is not 
superfluous, but necessary : and this, if the 
objectors will consider the method and nature 
of my studies, they will be constrained to 
acknowledge. Those who have confined them- 
selves to any particular class of philosophers, 
who have attached themselves to Aquinas, for 
instance, or Scotus, whose works are now in 
many hands, might be allowed to make trial 
of their talents in the discussion of a few 
points. But I have so conducted my inqui- 
ries, as that, " Nullius in verba juratus," I 
have ranged at large amongst all the schools, 
turned over works of every description, and 
formed an acquaintance with all sects. I was 
therefore bound to make my disputations 
general, lest I should seem to stand forward, 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 257 

merely as the advocate of some particular dog- 
ma ; — as a person addicted to one school, and 
holding the rest in contempt. If moreover, 
a few of my theses might have relation to in- 
dividual schools, it must happen that many 
more would have a general reference .to all. I 
shall not be apprehensive of being condemned, 
because, 

" Quo me cunque ferat tempestas, deferor hospes :" Hor. 

Since it was a rule sanctioned by the ancients 
themselves, to examine works of all kinds, 
and to leave no treatise unperused. Such was 
the practice of Aristotle in particular, who was 
thence denominated by Plato " ivxyvaqviQ" 
or, the reader. For a student to confine him- 
self to the porch or the academy alone, were 
an argument of a contracted mind : nor can 
we pretend to select from each, that which best 
commends itself to us, without making our- 
selves acquainted with the works of all : not 
to say that every author has some distinguish- 
ing peculiarity, which we should look for in 
vain in the writings of another." 

Picus, having next descanted on the dis- 
tinctive and characteristic peculiarities of Sco- 
tus, Aquinas, and others of the principal 
scholastic writers ; of Averroes, and other Ara- 
bian, philosophers, and of those among the 
Greeks who rank as the leading followers of 
the Aristotelic and Platonic schools, — pro- 
ceeds to observe, — that if there be any sect 
inimical to established truths, who have em- 
ployed their ingenuity in scoffing at the cause 
of piety, those truths are rather confirmed 
than enfeebled by such attacks ; as flame burns 
more strongly and brightly, by being disturbed. 

L L 



258 MEMOIRS OF 

Moved by this consideration, he promises to 
bring into discussion the leading doctrines of 
every sect ; that from the comparison and col- 
lision of opinion, truth may be rendered more 
conspicuous. 

" But after all," he adds, " how little 
should I have performed, if adducing merely 
the opinions of others, how various soever; if 
approaching this symposium of the wise with- 
out my own symbol, I should contribute no 
fruit of my own ingenuity to add to the feast. 
To be wise merely with the learning of other 
men ; and as if the discoveries of former times 
had precluded our own exertions ; as if the vigour 
of nature in ourselves were exhausted ; to be 
able to strike out no thought which may either 
demonstrate or furnish some distant clue to 
truth, is, as Seneca remarks, unworthy a 
liberal mind. If the agriculturist deprecates 
barrenness jn his field, the husband in his 
wife ; certainly that divine afflatus associated 
with the human soul, must mark its unfruitful- 
ness with a disapprobation still stronger, iri pro- 
portion to the greater dignity of the offspring 
which were justly expected. Hence, in addi- 
tion to branches of science generally known, 
not satisfied with propounding many particu- 
lars from the remote theology of Mercurius 
Trismegistus, — many from the Pythagoric and 
Chaldasan systems, — many from the more se- 
cret mysteries of the Hebrews, — I have pre- 
pared for examination a great variety of theses, 
the result of my own meditations and disco- 
veries ; and which have relation to subjects 
both human and divine. "(*) 

{a) In the first place, Picus declares his intention to 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 259 

We have thus attempted to give, as far 
as our authorities would permit, a circumstan- 



propose a method of reconciling Plato and Aristotle : an 
attempt not unthought of in former times. Boelhius, amongst 
the Latins, Simplicius amongst the Greeks, had promised 
such an undertaking ; but the latter had not, and it is doubt- 
ful whether the former ever actually executed it. Various 
scholars however, ancient and modern, had given testimony 
to its practicability. He avows a similar intention with 
regard to a variety of seemingly discordant passages in the 
works of Aquinas and Scotus, — Averroes and Avicenna. 

II. He promises to lay down seventy-two new physical 
and metaphysical principles of his own discovery, by which 
he flatters himself, that all questions relating to natural and 
theological science may be discussed and determined, in a 
method hitherto untaught in the schools, and unpractised by 
any of the doctors of the age. 

III. To propose a new method of reasoning by num- 
bers; known indeed to Pythagoras, Plato, and some of their 
followers amongst the ancients, but so entirely lost, he as- 
serts, to modern times, that scarce a vestige of it remained : 
and by this method he promises to answer seventy-four of 
the principal questions in physics and metaphysics. 

IV. Picus intended to introduce what he calls certain 
te Magica Theoremata ;" but is careful to distinguish be- 
tween that species of magic supposed to depend on the 
agency of evil spirits, which he pronounces impious and 
execrable, and that which in fact, forms the most recondite 
part of the philosophy of nature, and constitutes the species 
in question. For amongst the ancients, he observes, the 
term Magus, was not a name of reproach, but of honour; 
and used to denote a person of consummate wisdom. The 
magic here alluded to, was in fact, nothing but an investi- 
gation of the most secret and admirable mysteries of nature. 
It was that species of knowledge, for the acquisition of 
which Empedocles, Democritus, and Plato, travelled into 
distant countries ; which was eagerly studied by so many 
other sages of antiquity ; and in latter times had occupied 
the attention of various of the moderns, and that in particu- 
lar, of our own learned countryman Roger Bacon. This 
study therefore, far from being of an irreligious nature, has, 
he observes, a more powerful tendency than any other, to 
impress the mind with religious sentiments, and to lead it 
to ascribe glory and praise to the great Creator. 

L L 2 



260 MEMOIRS OF 

tial detail of those events which characterized 
the remarkable enterprize of Picus at Rome, as 



V. From the most ancient Hebrew writings he undertakes 
to illustrate and confirm the principal truths of the catholic 
faith and doctrine. It was, he observes, an assertion of Origen 
and some others, in conjunction with the Hebrew doctors, 
that Moses, when he received the written law on the mount 
from God, was also favoured, from the same divine source, 
with its most secret and mysterious interpretation. The 
former he was to publish to all the people : the latter he was 
forbidden to commit to writing, or reveal to any but Joshua 
his successor; who should in like manner communicate it to 
the chiefs of the sacerdotal order only. Thus then, it conti- 
nued to be handed down by oral tradition ; until at length, 
after the Babylonish captivity, and the restoration of the 
temple, when on account or the frequent calamities and 
revolutions incident to the Jewish polity, it seemed incapable 
of being longer transmitted in its ancient purity by this 
mode, tsdras having assembled the Jewish wise men, com- 
mitted it to writing from their mouths. These traditions 
therefore, consisting of seventy books, constitute the Jewish 
Cabala. Sixtus IV. the predecessor, of Innocent VIII. ap- 
prized of their tendency to strengthen the christian cause, 
had ordered them to be translated into the Latin language, 
but only three of the books were published before his de- 
cease. Picus however, having obtained a copy of the ori- 
ginals, at a great expense, and perused this voluminous col- 
lection, with immense labour, was so sanguine as to persuade 
himself that he discovered in them a strong confirmation of 
the chief mysteries of Christianity. 

Lastly, he promised to state his own interpretation of 
the dark and mysterious poems of Orpheus and Zoroaster; 
the former of whom is preserved by the Greeks almost in- 
tire ; the latter, mutilated amongst them, is found more 
compleat in the Chaldaic; and both are esteemed the fathers 
and sources of ancient wisdom. On the model of the Or- 
phic theology, as Jamblicus believes, Pythagoras founded 
his; and thence the secret doctrine of numbers, and every 
sublimer part of the Grecian philosophy flowed. But so deeply 
are his doctrines enveloped in poetical fiction, that they are 
not to be disentangled from their enigmatical concealment 
. without the greatest labour. " Let me not,** Bays Picus, 

towards the close of his oration, u be considered as actuated 
by vanity, which is far from my disposition, but as compelled 



P1CUS OF MIRANDULA. 26l 

well as the consequent difficulties in which it 
involved him. He is henceforward, to be 
contemplated chiefly in a state of seclusion, 
averse from public scenes, limited in his inter- 
course to the society and correspondence of a 
few chosen friends, and devoted more closely, 
if possible, than ever, to his studies. Even 
the remembrance of his late adventure seems 
to have been consigned to a kind of studied 
oblivion ; nor does the least mention of it 
occur in any of his own letters, or of those of 
his correspondents, of a date subsequent to 
the time in which it happened. It is a cir- 
cumstance no less true than singular, that 
throughout the whole correspondence of Poli- 
tian and the learned men of his age, as trans- 
mitted to our times, not the slightest allusion 
to this interesting transaction is to be found. 
A silence so mysterious, and with respect to a 
subject so calculated to excite curiosity and 
discussion, must doubtless have proceeded 
from reasons well understood, and of acknow- 
ledged weight and cogency. 

That the commencement of the year 1488 
found Picus in the possession of his happy and 
peaceful asylum at Florence, may be presumed 



by the obloquy of those who would decry me and my per- 
formances, when I avow that my purpose in this public dis* 
putation is not so much to evince that I know much, as that I 
know what many are ignorant of." " Quod" (he proceeds) 
*? ut vobis re ipsa, Patres colendissimi, jam palam fiat, ut 
desiderium vestrum, Doctores excellentissimi, quos paratos, 
accinctosque expectare pugnam, non sine magna voluptate 
conspicio, mea longius oratio non remoretur ; quod felix 
faustumque sit, quasi citante classico jam conseramus ma- 
ims." 



£<32 MEMOIRS Ol> 

from a letter (Z») addressed to him by Hermo- 
laus Barbarus from Milan, where he at this 
juncture resided in character of ambassador of 
the Venetian republic. After some introduc- 
tory matter, Hermolaus contrives to intermin- 
gle with the usual praises of his young friend 
such salutary admonitions as he thought more 
especially seasonable at that time. " It were 
superfluous" (thus he addresses Picus) " to 
exhort you to persevere in your love of letters, 
in which you are so accomplished ; to bid you 
cultivate ethics and the moral virtues, for 
in these such is your proficiency as to leave 
it dubious whether you have made greater 
progress in their theory or practice. Great 
, confessedly, beyond all that can be conceived, 



,{b) This letter which occurs among the letters of Poli- 
tian ; (Lib. xii. ep. 37.J and is also subjoined to the letters 
of Picus (in Edit, Henricpetriand, Basilar, 160] J is dated 
Mcdiolani Cal. Jan. 1487. But the Venetians, Florentines, 
and Pisans begin the year at the vernal equinox. fSee 
"Encyclopaedia Brilannica" last edition, article Chronology.) 
To this practice, scholars who made the Latin language the 
vehicle of their epistolary correspondence, adhered ; whilst 
in the divisions of the month they made use of the terms of 
the Julian kalendar. Hence, according to our mode of 
reckoning, the above date corresponds with January 1, 14S8. 
On some occasions we find these scholars, too indolent to 
consult the Julian kalendar, in noting the day of the month 
content themselves with the common mode. Thus a letter 
of Marsilius Ficinus, to Germano de Ganai, (Oper. Pici, p. 
274 — 5. J in which be gives an account of the decease of 
Politian and Picus, is dated die 23 MartH 119 k The de- 
cease of Politian, as already mentioned, took place Septem- 
ber 24, 1494. Ficinus wrote this letter, according to our 
reckoning, March 23, 1495, but complying with the Flo- 
rentine usage abovementioned, he would not write 1495 
till the twenty-fifth of the same month. This observation is 
important, as enabling the attentive inquirer to verily dates 
which might Otherwise perplex and lead him astray. 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 0,6$ 

are those endowments for which you are in- 
debted to the felicity of your own genius, or 
rather to the' Creator. Hence your attain- 
ments at this early period of life are of a kind 
to which old age itself could not without pre- 
sumption aspire. But remember Picus, these 
accomplishments are not self-derived ; they 
are the gifts of nature, — I should rather say, 
of God : though you might indeed, with more 
semblance of reason, ascribe to yourself the 
merit of them, than of some others of your 
advantages. For confessedly, you owe still 
less to yourself, nobility, fortune, health, sym- 
metry, qualities, in which you vie with every 
other, no less than in those, in which your 
personal exertions have more concern. Con- 
sider, I entreat you, and never lose the recol- 
lection, how infinitely you stand obliged to 
that Being who hath thus enriched you ; that 
your debt of gratitude can never be expunged 
or discharged. Think what his power is, who 
hath bestowed such powers on you ; what his 
goodness, who amongst so many thousands, 
hath chosen to distinguish you by marks of 
his special favour ; who gave you in childhood - 
to eclipse the wisdom of age, and before the 
years of manhood to be admired by the circles 
of the learned, as a prodigy of erudition. If 
you were insensible of, or indifferent to these 
reflections, I must affirm with freedom, that 
you could not be so eminent as you are." He 
thus concludes a letter, pregnant with these 
and similar friendly admonitions; "Remem- 
ber me to Marsilius, and your own affectionate 
Salviatus ; I scarcely need to add the name of 
Politian, since he, as I am given to under- 
stand, will shortly be with me at Milan : than 



l 264f MEMOIRS OF 

which meeting I shall deem no event more 
fortunate, that can occur during the whole 
period of my embassy. Nothing can exceed 
the pleasure I derive, from being informed 
that your library continues to receive daily 
accessions to its literary ornaments. To the 
citizens of Florence, how greatly is learning 
indebted ; amongst those citizens, how pecu- 
liarly to the Medici; amongst the Medici, 
how peculiarly to Lorenzo ! who cherishes 
this highly ornamental propensity of his illus- 
trious house, with no less ardour than the 
welfare of the republic, of which he is invested 
with the administration and charge. 

The retreat assigned to Picus by his gene- 
rous friend Lorenzo, w r as at Fiesole, 1 in the 
vicinity of Florence, (c) celebrated for its com- 
manding heights, which overlook the city, 
its pleasing diversity of wood-crowned hills, 
and well watered, luxuriant and sheltered val- 
lies, which constitute the most captivating 
features of rural scenery. Here Lorenzo him- 
self had a delightful villa, where he and Poli- 



(c) " Cum superioribus diebus, ego et Picus noster 
Mirandulanus, Faesulanos imo subfaesulanos colles peragra- 
remus, prospiciebamus obiter subjeclum oculis totum Flo- 
rentiae urbis agrum, &c» (Ficini Epistolar : Lib. ix. ep. I. J 
This peculiarity in the situation of Fiesole did not escape our 
own immortal Milton, who was personally acquainted with 
the vicinity of Florence : 

" His ponderous shield, 
Ethereal temper, massy, large, and round, 
Hung on his shoulders, like the moon, whose orb 
Through optic-glass, the Tuscan artist views 
At evening, from the top of Fesole ; 
Or in Valdarno ; to descry new lands, 
Rivers, or mountains in her spotty globe." 

(Paradise Lost, book i, line 236, fyc.) 






PICUS OF MfRANDULA, %65 

tian spent many of their hours of literary lei- 
sure. Not far from hence was the rich abbey 
or monastery (d) founded by the elder Cosmo, 
for a society of regular Benedictines, at an 
expense (including its valuable library) of 
84000 gold crowns. Matteo Bosso (e) was 
now the superiour of this religious establish- 



(d) The abbey of Fiesole is about two miles from the 
city of Florence. " Trajecto pedibus siccis Mugnione, poe- 
tis decantato, occurrit in declivi montis Abbatia Fesulana, 
&c." (Mabillon Museum Itdlicum.J 

(e) It appears from the account of Scipione Maffei, 
(degli Scrittori Veronesi Libro terzo) that Matteo Bosso 
was a native of Verona. That writer also observes, that he 
was the intimate friend of Ermolao Barbaro, as well as of 
Pico. That the latter was his guest for a whole year at 
Fiesole appears from Matteo's own testimony. " Pico vero 
Mirandula in Fsesulano Abbas annum totum gavisus sum 
hospite, a Laurentio Mediceo mihi commisso ; quo in loco 
otium ad sacrarum literarum maxime studia, linguamque 
Hebraicam perdiscendam, commodissimam sibi delegerat." 
(De institumdo sapientid animo Lib. viii.J Matteo was the 
confessor of Lorenzo. Sixtus IV. employed him in some 
transactions of importance, and would have raised him to 
the episcopal rank ; but the good abbot declined this honour. 
He died at Padua, anno 1502. His literary productions 
consist of a work e< De Instituendo Sapientia Animo/' in 
eight books, printed at Bologna in 1 495, with the addition 
of a discourse on our Lord's passion : — w De Veris et Salu- 
taribus Animi Gaudiis," Florence, 1491 : Some orations 
printed in the collection entitled " Recuperationes Faesu- 
lanae : " other smaller works enumerated by Maffei ; and 
lastly, " Epistolar. Lib. iii." highly spoken of; Lib. i. pub- 
lished at Bologna in 1493, and containing 133 letters; Lib. 
ii, at Mantua, in 1498, which consists of 131 letters. This 
collection is said to contain an interesting letter to Poliziano 
on the subject of an ancient MS. of Ausonius, transmitted by 
Matteo to the former at his earnest instance. The third book 
saw the light at Venice in 1502, in 4to. with the addition of 
some sermoni. His whole works, were published by P. Am- 
brosini, at Bologna, in 1627, with the exception of this third 

M M 



Q66 MEMOIRS OF 

ment. The habitation assigned to Picus ap- 
pears to have been within the precincts of the 
monastery, and the worthy abbot was requested 
by Lorenzo to receive him under his special 
protection, and by his kind attentions to as- 
sist in rendering this new situation agreeable 
to so illustrious a guest. Picus continued an 
inhabitant of the monastery a whole year, 
during which time his chief attention was 
occupied in Hebrew studies, and those theo- 
logical investigations to which they were sub- 
servient. 

Whilst Picus, amidst these scenes so friend- 
ly to abstraction and literary investigation, 
devoted his more retired hours to such graver 
enquiries as had relation to the holy scrip- 
tures ; his intervals of relaxation were spent 
in the society of Lorenzo, Ficinus, and espe- 
cially of Politian, in whose philosophical, cri- 
tical and poetical studies he took an active 
and pleasing interest. The visit of the last- 
mentioned scholar to Venice, which laid the 
foundation of his more immediate acquaint- 
ance with Hieronymus Donatus, and Hermo- 
laus Barbarus, has already been noticed. Soon 
after his departure from that cit}', Hermolaus 
Poiitiani e p . had addressed a letter to him, which contained 
1 ,L ep * • strong assurances of regard for his person, and 
respect for his talents. Intreating Politian 
to pursue his studies, Hermolaus had observed 
that the ruinous and declining state of letters 
and the useful arts, loudly called for every 
possible exertion on the part of men of real 



book of letters, which on account of its extreme rarity was 
unknown to that editor, (Majfti vt supra.) 






PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 2$7 

abilities. " Accept me," says he, " for your 
associate in this important enterprize, or con- 
descend to become mine. If I merit not so 
honourable an appellation, call me your ser- 
vant : spontaneously — gladly — I volunteer my 
services. Such is my ardour to serve the cause 
of letters, that I would decline no labour, I 
would disdain no office however menial, in 
such a cause. Should I not rather say that 
no function pertaining to literature can be 
otherwise than honourable, ornamental, glori- 
ous, to the person who discharges it." 

To this letter Politian had replied in lan- 
guage suitable to the occasion, and highly ex- 
pressive of the sense which he entertained of the 
value of Ermolao's newly acquired friendship. 
After a return of compliments, — " I feel it" 
(added Politian) " less incumbent on myself 
to stand foremost in vindication of letters, 
however deplorable, however desperate their 
present situation may be, because I see few so 
fit to take the lead as yourself. Agamemnon 
doubts not that he should soon be master of 
Troy, had he but ten such counsellors as Nes- 
tor. Could I but serve under ten such leaders 
as Hermolaus, I should entertain no doubt of 
seeing both Grecian and Latian literature spee- 
dily emancipated from barbarism. I extol, I 
admire the fortitude which prompts you to 
hope in the midst of so much discouragement 
and despondency. Your confidence awakens 
mine ; and to second your efforts is the height 
of my wishes." 

A subsequent letter of Politian, written at 
a considerable interval of time after the pre- 
ceding, and which is probably to be referred to 
the period now under our consideration, may 
m m 2 



268 MEMOIRS OF 

serve to illustrate the friendly regard which 
continued to subsist amongst these distin- 
guished scholars, and that reciprocation of 
kind offices, in which they mutually vied with 
each other. 



poiit. Ep. Lib. Angelus Politianus, to Hermolaus Barbarus, 

i. ep. 11. 

" You must attribute my long silence to 
your occupations rather than my own. By 
these I understand, not only your vigils spent 
in the pursuit of letters and wisdom, but your 
frequent embassies, and state employments. 
What could be more indecent than either lo- 
quaciously to disturb your devotions to the 
muses, or to break in with trifles upon your 
serious engagements. But I suffer not a day, 
scarce an hour to pass, without expatiating 
on the subject of your virtues, talents, and 
erudition ; as my patron Lorenzo, and my 
friend Picus, not men, but heroes in my esti- 
mation, can attest. At one time, they listen 
with complacency and pleasure ; at another, 
themselves enlarge upon this favorite topic ; 
so that our liberal youth, and the whole circle 
of my friends, have formed the most exalted 
ideas of your character. My "Miscellanies" 
too, now on the eve of publication, whenso- 
ever, in the language of Horace, " dignus 
vindice nodus incident," appeal to your judg- 
ment, and that of Lauren ti us and of Picus, 
against the whole rabble of ignorance. But 
to come to the purport of my present letter : 
— my friend Francesco Gaddi of Florence, late 
ambassador at your court, has informed Lo- 
renzo, that you wish him, if it be in his power, 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 26$ 

to accommodate you with a correct copy of 
ft Dioscorides."(/ ) He like a true friend of 



(f) Of this author Hermolaus left a Latin translation. 
The liberality with which persons of rank and erudition 
communicated to each other at this period their Codices, ma*- 
nuscripts, and the like remains of antiquity, for the advan- 
tage of the important cause of literature, is pleasingly illus- 
trated by Foscarini, in his work " Delia Letteratura Vene- 
ziana," p. 69, to the following effect: — At the commence- 
ment of the revival of letters, Venice teemed with Greek 
and Latin MSS. and many of the Venetian gentry began to 
form collections : amongst whom were Andrea Giuliano, 
Francesco and Zaccheria Barbaro, Marco Lippomano, Lio- 
nardo Giustiniano, Fantin Dandolo, Zaccheria Trivigiano 
(il Vecchio), Giovanni Cornaro, Piero Miani, Lauro Qui- 
jrini, &c. &c. who flourished about the termination of the 
fifteenth century. It was afterwards an object of conse- 
quence to literary investigation, to obtain access to, and 
liberty of examining and transcribing from these collections. 
Lorenzo de' Medici himself, in the formation of the Medi- 
cean library, was often obliged to the literary repositories of 
Venice. Angelo Poliziano had recourse for MSS. to Antonio 
Pizzamano, Girolamo Donato, Domenico Grimani, and Gi- 
ovanni Lorenzo, all Venetians. 

Lorenzo, he further observes, procured transcripts of 
many " dei Codici del Bessarione," and of others preserved 
.in the public libraries of Venice, at which city he was per- 
mitted to keep a scribe for that purpose. Nay the senate 
occasionally indulged him by sending to Florence, for a li- 
mited time, some of those " Codices" of which he stood in 
need. We may add, that a like indulgence was freely 
granted by Lorenzo and the Florentines, to those whose 
rank and inclination qualified them to stand forward, as 
patrons and promoters of literature in other states ; and not 
to mention those of Italy, it is well known that Matteo Cor- 
vino, king of Hungary, enjoyed, and eagerly availed himself 
of such a privilege. But to return to the testimony of Fos- 
carini. <c Pico," he adds, " had frequent recourse to Ermo- 
lao Barbaro for a similar purpose, as his letters evince. Nor 
did he pass by the literary friends of Barbaro, who were 
also for the greatest part, his own ; men of great erudition, 
and rich in ancient MSS. viz. Antonio Calbo, termed in the 
letters of Ermolao, '* Calvus," (per il costume di que' tempi, 
che eercava di conformare il nome al genio Latino,) Dome- 




mo 



MEMOIRS OF 



yours, and no less prompt, than qualified by 
his high station to oblige, instantly gave it 



nico Grimani, Girolamo Donato, and Tomma9o Mezzo. 
As the names of these scholars thus incidentally occur, 
any attempt to rescue their memories, at least from total 
oblivion, will not be thought unseasonable. Of Tommaso 
de Mezzo, Foscarini observes briefly, time has left no other 
memorial than two letters addressed to him by Giovanni 
Pico ; " in una delle quali esalla sommamente la Favola Co- 
mica Latina, intitolata *' Epirota," composta dal de Mezzo, 
e impressa in Venezia per Bernardino di Celere di Luere V anno 
1485. But he might have added, that Tommaso had in- 
scribed one of his pieces to Picus ; as appears from the first 
of these letters, which begins thus : " Quod fabellam tuam, 
et earn festivam quidem et concinnam, meo nommi nuncu- 
paveris, indicio mihi fuit doctrmae tuae et singularis in me 
benevolentiae, &c." Part of the second, which is still more 
illustrative of the friendly connection which subsisted be- 
tween Pico and Mezzo, deserves also to be cited in the 
author's own words : •* Solidius nunquam me oblectaturn 
memini, quam nuper dum tuam " Epyrotam" legerem, fa- 
bellam proculdubio facetissimam, cum argumenti festivitate 
turn styli eruditione priscas etiam comoedias provocantem . 
.... Digna profecto fuit quae Hermolao Barbaro, nescio 
an tuo quam meo magis, nominatim dicaretur; cui uni omnes 
literatos tantum debere existimo, quantum vix debent anti- 
quitati. Comoediae novae, quam mihi polliceris, jam ex- 
pectans inhio." After expressing a wish for his society, if 
it were practicable, and observing that he shall leave his 
present place of residence in about ten days, Picus thus pro- 
ceeds: i — " Interim a me comoediae mater iam non expectes. 
Malo utrunque, e tuo penu promasj ut Thomam Medium, 
non medium sed totum, fabella sapiat. Vereor enim, ne 
obsequendo tibi hebetudo ingenii mihi jacturam faceret, et ex 
eo quod de nostro admitteret, ab opifice opus degeneraret. 
Apud me nihil est non expositum, insulsum, plebeium. At 
desiderant has comoediae nescio quid secretiorum rerum 
salsum, mordax, elegans, acutum, tibi tuique ingenii amoe- 
nitatibus peculiare, &c." These letters occur ap. Epi&tvlas 
Pici, without note of place or date. Oper. p. 249. 

Domenico Grimani, who afterwards attained the 
rank of cardinal, became conspicuous as a patron of letters. 
In the year 1509, he was visited by Erasmus, who relate* 
the particulars of his reception, in one of his letters, with 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 

in charge to me to attend to your request. 
The copy sent herewith is, in my judgment, 
no less estimable for its correctness than anti- 
quity. After making the use of it which you 
intend, you will no doubt return it to me, — not 
merely uninjured, but greatly augmented in 
value and authority, by your excellent anno- 
tations. Adieu." 

The connection of Picus and Politian with 
Hermolaus, led to a similar intercourse with 
other Venetian scholars of the time, who were 
distinguished by their exertion of that in- 
fluence which rank and fortune will always 
afford, for the furtherance of letters. Amongst 
these, besides others already noticed, were 
Antonio Pizzamano, Domenico Grimani, who 
was afterwards advanced to the dignity of a 
cardinal, and Giovanni Lorenzo ; betwixt whom 
and our illustrious Florentines, an equal rea- 
diness subsisted to accommodate each other 
with the use of ancient manuscripts, and ex- 
change kind offices of a literary nature. Nor is 
it this noble liberality of communication only, 
so remarkable in the restorers of learning, that 
we regard with interest. The minutest inci- 
dents in which such men were concerned, the 
evanescent sallies of wit that enlivened their 
occasional interviews, or even the playful 



271 



interesting minuteness. (Vide Ep. 1175, of the edition of 
his works by Le Clerc.J To the same illustrious ecclesiastic, 
Erasmus inscribed his " Paraphrasis in, Epistol. Pauli ad Ro- 
manos." On another occasion, we rind him soliciting car- 
dinal Grimani for a copy of " Origenis Commentaria in Psal- 
mos;" a translation of which he had been urged to under- 
take by Warham, archbishop of Canterbury, (See his Epis- 
tles Ad Dom, Grimanwn: inter Ep, ejus. J 



272 MEMOIRS OF 

frolics to which they could sometimes de- 
scend, when described by their own pens, 
will commend themselves to the scholar of 
other times, and be perused by him with a 
portion of the same pleasure with which they 
were recollected and recorded. These consi- 
derations may recommend the following letter, 
which will itself explain the occasion on which 
it was written. 



poiit. e p . lib. Angelas Politianus, to Antonlus Pizamanus. 

iv. ep. 7. ° 

" What shall I say, learned sir, to you and 
Grimanus, (whom I may now term alike my 
friend and yours) for having in my presence 
paid a visit to Joannes Picus Mirandula, under 
fictitious names, country, and a thousand such 
like disguises ? — when our conversation too, 
could dwell on no subject but yourselves, not- 
withstanding your own almost forcible efforts 
to give it some other turn. Did not even the 
silent and instinctive yearnings of nature urge 
you to throw off so unseasonable a mask, and 
reproach you for such false colours in the pre- 
sence of friends ? And could you still so per- 
sist in your wicked, though jocular purpose, 
—whilst we both enquired of you with such 
ardour, conversed with you about yourselves 
so earnestly and affectionately, under the per- 
suasion that vou were strangers and indifferent 
persons, as to preserve the same firmness 
or rather obstinacy of concealment ? Oh ! 
could you have forgone this unkind purpose, 
what embraces, what pleasure should we have 
mutually participated ! What a day of tri- 
umph was lost to us, perhaps to yourselves 
also, by this disobliging, not to say cruel de- 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 273 

ception ! Your late confession, I must say, 
gave me but a partial gratification ; since I at 
last discovered you only to experience the 
mortification of your immediate loss. How- 
ever indeed, disposed to credit your welcome 
declaration, I scarcely dared to believe you 
the persons you really were ; thinking that 
either I could not have before been so much 
imposed upon, or that they who avowed so 
gross a deceit, intended to deceive me anew : 
so that my mind, simple, unsuspecting, and 
a stranger to guile, was robbed even of this 
poor consolation. As fishes and birds once 
deluded, afterwards where the food invites, 
suspect the hook or birdlime ; so, in conse- 
quence of your late imposition, what was really 
sincere and genuine appeared to me adulte- 
rated and artificial. Picus himself indeed once 
served me in a similar manner ; but he carried 
not the imposture so far. Having introduced 
himself to me whilst I was in the country, 
like a temporary Proteus, under a feigned 
name, he diverted himself by turning the con- 
versation upon his own character ; and art- 
fully endeavoured to draw from me my senti- 
ments respecting himself. After he had, as 
he thought, carried the jest to a sufficient 
length, he spontaneously told me with a 
laugh, who he was ; and the cloud of disguise 
being dissipated, I was permitted to enjoy 
without restraint the presence and conversa- 
tion of my youthful friend, 

" Et veras audire et reddere voces." 

But so far did you transgress the bounds of 
moderation, that had not fortune caused me, 
returning from the country solely on your 

N N 



c 274f MEMOIRS OF 

accoutit, to stumble upon you, I had almost 
said flying — on the very threshold — you would 
have departed silently, (which still excites my 
indignation,) and unrecognized by me, as 
gentlemen of Vicenza, and not of Venice ; 
and instead of Pizamani and Grimani, Porti- 
censes, or I know not who. But a truce to 
reproaches which are now too late, and can 
avail nothing. Friends must be allowed some- 
times to illude friends ; as the wisest men in- 
form us, the gods themselves are wont to il- 
lude those mortals who are dearest to them. I 
come now to your very elegant letters, which 
our Lactantius faithfully delivered to myself 
and Picus respectively ; or rather both to both; 
since whatsoever of the kind is addressed to 
the one, is in fact addressed to the other also. 
And in these, I must say, you have exerted 
every nerve of politeness ; as if willing in your 
absence pleasingly to atone by the most in- 
genuous frankness, for the deception whicli 
you in person practised upon us. So much do 
your affection, politeness, and native suavity 
of disposition live, breathe, and display them- 
selves in these letters," that your pen might 
seem less to have been dipped in ink, than in 
the innermost recesses of your bosom. Thus, 
as the Syracusan poet says, You have con- 
verted our former mortification into a source of 
pleasure and advantage. We regret indeed the 
brevity of your letters ; but they have acquired 
an artificial length by our frequently repeated 
perusal of them. I possess too, other letters 
of yours, as well as of Grimanus, addressed to 
me about ten years ago ; seeds truly worthy of 
being scattered as it were, by young men who 
were destined to gather such a plenteous har- 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 275 

vest of erudition. And as lovers carefully 
preserve, each one the little present of his 
mistress, whether it be a ring, a bracelet, a 
handkerchief, or even a violet, a rose, or other 
flower, — so I not only treasure up with scru- 
pulous care your letters and his, as the most 
estimable pledges of real affection, but fre- 
quently make them pass in review before me ; 
reciting them — sometimes to myself, at others 
— to my friends ; and thus refreshing my re- 
membrance of you, renewing my affection, 
and frequently inviting you to my converse. 
1 may therefore, with justice, request you will 
not cease to write to me, as it is a kindness by 
which I am so greatly benefitted. Rather let 
all the time which you can spare from more 
important studies, be bestowed on me ; and 
gratify me at least with the employment of 
some of your leisure moments. It is a debt 
which you owe to my attachment, as well as 
to your own urbanity. I rejoice that Dome- 
nico Grimani is discharging so honourable an 
embassy. Yet I wish you may receive him 
safe back as soon as possible, that he may not 
be too long vacant from the muses ; and that 
you may have the pleasure of embracing, sa- 
luting, and congratulating him in my name 
and your own, — ornamented as he deserves 
with many additional honours, for his services 
to his country. Concerning the manuscript, 
I forbear to press you ; for I should err in 
supposing that my cause required with you 
such recommendation, I will only say, I long 
to see it, and that having with pleasure pe- 
rused, and with care preserved it from injury, 
I will faithfully return it to you, Joannes Picus 

N N % 



\ 



%76 MEMOIRS OF 

Mirandula, who is as it were the Roscius of 
our literary theatre, intends, I believe, himself 
to answer your letter, the receipt, of which 
afforded him so much pleasure. He has you 
and Grimanus as well as myself, fixed to his 
• heart with a kind of " clavus trabalis." On 
all occasions he expatiates on the praises of 
both, — and occasions never fail to present 
themselves. I shewed yours to Laurentius 
Medices, who smiled as I related to him the 
whole deception. He found great fault with 
me, that 1 did not bring you and your friend 
when known, by force, if necessary, to his 
palace, that you might at your leisure examine 
the gems and antique vases in his possession, 
in which you said you took a pleasure. I ob- 
served in reply, that neither I, nor Hercules 
himself could be supposed a match for two. 
Be assured he esteems you both, and is desi- 
rous to encourage studies of this nature. In- 
deed he seems formed by birth, education, and 
habit, for every thing noble, every thing 
praise-worthy ; and is in my opinion a no less 
deserving object, of your curiosity, than those 
gems and vases, of which you first desired, but 
afterwards declined the inspection." 
P °i. i c ] o5. lib ' In the spring of the year 1488, the cele- 
brated Roman professor Pomponius L«tus ad- 
dressed a letter to Politian, transmitting to 
him likewise an imperfect Roman calendar and 
some other ancient remains found at Venosa, a 
city within the Neapolitan dominions, and the 
birth-place of the poet Horace. The Roman 
scholar professing his readiness to gratify the 
antiquarian curiosity of Politian with other 
communications of the same nature, proceeds 
to solicit his opinion concerning a passage of 



PICUS OF MIMNDULA. 277 

Valerius Flaccus, (g) which (whilst he sus- 
pects the text to be corrupted) he confesses 
his own inability to understand or rectify, es- 
pecially as he possessed no means of consulting 
a manuscript of Apollonius, who, he observes, 
might possibly unravel the mystery. " But 
on this head I am impatient for your exquisite 
judgment," says Pomponius, " which, in my 
opinion, all we who are professors of literature 
must of necessity venerate." He begs to be 
commended to Lorenzo and his son " unicis 
literarum fautoribus," from the former of whom 
he solicits some letters of recommendation for 
a friend ; but contrary to the practice of Poli- 
tian's other learned correspondents, he makes 
no mention of Picus. How far Pomponius 
was influenced by the invidious jealousy which 
the late intended disputations of the former 
had excited in the breasts of so many Roman 
doctors, must now be left to conjecture. 

Amongst the various persons of erudition 
who adorned Florence at this period, and 
whose friendship was more particularly culti- 



(g) This passage in the copy of Pomponius stood as 
follows : 

Indigena seterni rupem Jovis : hinc tibi Mavors 
Dant virides post terga lacus : ubi deside mitia 
Foeta legat : partuque virum fovet ipsa soluto. 

Politian, assisted by a parallel passage of Apollonius Rho- 
dius, proposed the following emendation in his reply to 
Pomponius, (Lib. i. ep. [6. J to which succeeding critics 
have given the seal of approbation: 

Inde Genetaei rupem Jovis— hinc Tibarenum 
Dant virides post terga lacus : ubi deside mitra 
Foeta ligat : partuque virum fovet ipsa soluto. 



I 



£78 MEMOIRS OF 

vated by Picus-, were Roberto Salviati, (h) 
and the family of the Benivieni. The former, 
of whom mention has already occurred, was 
not less conspicuous for his rank than for his 
attachment to literature, if Politian's testimony 
Lib.iv.e P .:io. be worthy f credit . ii You" (says he) " Ro- 
berto, are so peculiarly fortunate, that the 
very office of praising you is that for which 
all the learned must contend, sensible that 
their judgment will be most highly extolled 
who praise you most. Nor does so vast an 
honour exceed your deserts. For such are 
your sedulous good offices towards their whole 
order, that instead of its being adulation to 
commend, it would be ingratitude to omit 
this duty. Persevere then in a conduct which 
will advance your renown beyond triumphs; 
for never shall those characters of glory be 
effaced, which proceed not merely from the 
ingenuity, but affection of men of erudition. " 
The Benivenii appear to have been at least 
four in number. Antonius, the eldest, was a 
physician : the second probably a physician 
also, and celebrated for his botanical research- 
es : the third, Hieronymus, distinguished him- 
self as a poet : the fourth, Politian describes 
as exhibiting at the age of fourteen the most 
promising talents and attainments. So much 
may be inferred from his verses to Antonius, 
written in the year 1472. 



(h) Jacobus Salviatus was a scholar of Politian ; 
lie afterwards married a daughter of Lorenzo de' Medici ; 
and to him Politian inscribed his " Rusticus." Roberto was 
probably the father of Jacobus, and of Julius, for whom 
Politian wrote the epigram entitled, " In poste cubiculi, &c." 
(See Memoirs of Politian t p. 121, note d.) 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 279 



ANTONIO BENIVENIO MEDICO. 

Ut son i pes geminas attollit Martius aures 

Cum raucae belli signa dedere tubas, — 
Sic mihi languenti surgunt in pectore vires 

Ingenii laudas cum monumenta mei. 
Et meritd : neque enim, tanto sub judice tutus, 

Pertimeo vulgi scommata vana rudis. 
Nam quoniam stygiam facile est tibi pellere mortem, 

Quam facile invidiae frangere colla potes ! 
Felix cui liceat fati pervertere legem, 

Quern propter cymba stet leviore Charon !] 
Stamina qui valeas invita nectere Parca 

Atque animas vacua restituisse colo ! 
Felix grata domus Lycio Benivenia Phoebo 

Cui sua concessit jnunera cuncta Deus. 
Namque coronidem tibi cedere jussit Apollo, 

Jussit et Hsemonium cedere Phylliriden. 
Ast alius simili frater virtute recenset 

Quae medicam surgens herba ministret opem 
Tertius Aoniis satur ille Hieronymus undis, 

Ad querulam docto barbiton ore canit. 
Bissenos alius modo cum transcendent annos 

Pectore jam canos vincit et ore senes, &c. 



to antonius benivenius. 

As rous'd the generous courser from afar 
Lists the hoarse trumpet and affects the war — 
My energies of soul your praise inspires 
And warms my bosom with ingenuous fires. 
With conscious pride, — since you commend my song, 
I'll spurn the invectives of the vulgar throng. 
For skiird alike to avert each destin'd wound — 
The shafts of death, and envy you confound, 



£S0 MEMOIRS OF 

Blest be your art ! that lighter bids to glide 

The bark of Charon o'er the Stygian tide;— 

Protracts the task by sullen Sisters spun, 

And renovates life's thread already run. 

Blest is your house, on whom the Lycian pow'r 

Sheds his best gifts in one redundant show'r 1 

Vouchsafes the honours of his learned choir, 

And music more than wak'd the Orphean lyre. 

Skill like thy own — thy second self avails 

To scan what healing pow'rs each herb conceals : 

Their lov'd Girolamo the tuneful nine 

Lead near their springs to quaff the draught divine : 

Whilst he, your youngest hope, a child in years — 

In thought — in eloquence — a sage appears. 

Whilst Salviati, as will hereafter appear, was 
the zealous encourager of Pico's profound 
theological investigations, and an active in- 
strument in bringing them before the public, 
Hieronymus Benivenius became more especi- 
ally the friend of his bosom, the depositary of 
his religious and moral sensibilities, and all 
that congeniality of opinion and disposition 
can render one person to another. 

The greater part of the Italian poems of 
Girolamo Benivieni may be considered as mo- 
numents sacred to morality and friendship. 
Of his Bucolics, (?) that which is entitled 






' (?) Of the rest of the Bucolics of Benivieni, that which 
is iniitled u Lauro," is in praise of poesy. *' Nemesi" in 
the first place, figuratively describes the tranquillity and re- 
pose of Florence, anno 1478; — secondly, the storm excited 
hy the Pazzi, and the assassination of Giuliano de' Medici ; 
— lastly, imprecates divine vengeance on the authors ol it. 
" Athcon" deplores the death of Giuliano : " Laura " inti- 
mates the author's love of poesy from his childhood. The 






PICUS OF MIRANPULA. 281 

" Varo e Daphne," is descriptive of his affec- 
tion for Picus. The seventh eclogue beards his 



seventh eclogue, intitled " Pico" " contiene una scambievole 
cantilena et alterna contentione infra due eccellentissimi pasto- 
ri, cioe infra el nostro Pico Joanni Principe Mirandolano, onde 
et essa egloga el suo nome sortisce, & Lauro cioe Lorenzo de* 
Medici. Canta ciascuno esuoi amori sotto varij figmenti e 
/igurati concetti. Onde come in nome di Misona, che abo- 
minatione significa si damna ne loro canti flguratamente et 
ecclude" lo amore inordinato di questi benicorruttibili & delle 
loro pestiferi volupta, cosi si laudano variamente & com- 
mendano, et in nome di Floria le virtu morali, et in nome di 
Pleona (che s' interpreta superabundantia) le supernaturali et 
divine, &c." The volume concludes with " Capitoli, Can- 
zone," Sonetti et altri versi di Hieronymo Benivieni." (See 
the edition of his poems printed in Vinegia, 1518, in Svo.) 

Tiraboschi (St or. della Poesia Ital. Vol. ii. p. 21 I, edi- 
tion of Mr. Mathias, in Londra, 1 803,J upon the authority 
of Varchi, assigns to Girolamo Benivieni the most conspicu- 
ous rank after Lorenzo de' Medici, and Politian in the resto- 
ration " Dell' Italiana Poesia." For ample notices con- 
cerning Girolamo and his works, the same critic refers to 
Mazzuchelli (Scritt. Ital. torn. ii. par. 2, J and cites some 
interesting lines (per dare un saggio del valor non ordinario 
di questa poeta) from a poem of his, entitled '« Deploratoria," 
which occurs not in the collection before-mentioned. The 
little poems which follow, the one a translation of a Latin 
epigram, the other an original sonnet, afford no unpleasing 
specimen of the poetical talents of Benivieni, whose works 
at large would possess more interest at the present day, were 
they less tinctured with the mysteries of his favourite pla- 
tonism. 

Una Nymph a, in similitudine d'una che dorma, scql- 
pita in una fonte, cosi parla. 

Mentre che io, et del loco ov' hor sono 

Nympha, e custode del bel fonte, ascolto ~ ' 

El murmurio de le sacre onde el suono, 

In dolce somno ho P occhio el cor mio involtoo 

Tu sealcun vieni'al mio fonte, un dono 

Ti chiegio, o bei, 6 el tuo candido volto . - 

Lavi, '1 dolce mio sonno, e la mia pace ~ 

Non turbar priego ; bei, lavati, e tace. 

00 



282 MEMOIRS OF 

name, but all are deeply tinged with the mys- 
teries of the platonic philosophy. The Can- 



Inscription for a Fountain, ornamented with the 
representation in sculpture of a Nymph sleeping. 

Whilst I, the Nymph that o'er these haunts preside, 
Held here my watch to guard my favourite tide, 
The sacred waters' softly murmuring sound 
In sweet, oblivious sleep my senses bound. 
Whoe'er thou art that hither com\st to lave, 
Or quench thy thirst in this translucent wave, 
Respect my slumbers, this kind tribute pay, — 
Drink, lave in silence, and pursue thy way. 

Nella morte della Falchetta de Rinuccini, 

Dim mi ove sono, sono hora Falchetta 
U alme bellezze tue celeste & nuove ? 
Dove son gliocchi, i tuoi belli occhi, dove 
Amor havea sua prima sede eletta ? 
Dove F eburneo collo, ove la eretta 
Cervice hor jace, et chi P inclina & muove ? 
Dove '1 candido sen, ond* anchor piove 
Nel luo sposo ogn' hor qualche saetta ? 
1/ alme bellezze mie ch' in quest* inferma 
Carne per far delle su* eterne sede 
Havea qui *1 ciel mirabilmente accolto 
Polver & ombra son, dov' hor si vede 
Chiaro quanto quel cor sia cieco & stolto 
Ch* in lor com' in suo fin si posa & ferma. 



On the death of Falchetta de Rinuccini. 

Oh say Falchetta ! whither now is fled 

That aspect with angelic beauties bright, 

Those eyes, e'erwhile Love's throne, — his chief delight 

Wherein to lurk, — and whence his shafts he sped ? 

Where makes that polish'd neck its lowly bed, 

Inert and prostrate ? where of snowy white 

The enchanting breast, — that on your spouse's sight 

Each passing hour some sweet attraction shed ? 



P1CUS OF MIRANDULA. 283 

zona of Girolamo Benivieni " Dello Amore 
Celeste e Divino," which enters deeply into 
the doctrine of that refined affection as defined 
by the platonic school, is illustrated with an 
elaborate and appropriate commentary by Picus 
himself; and with the exception of one short 
metrical composition, is the only performance 
of his in the Italian language which has reach- 
ed our times ; but with the precise period 
when it was written, we are not acquaint- 
ed, (k) 

The year 1489 was characterized by the 
publication of two works, very different in- 
deed in their nature, but both, if we may 
credit the testimony of numerous writers, re- 
ceived with great encomiums by the learned 
of the age. These were the " Miscella- 
nea" of Angelus Politianus, and the " Hep- 
tap lus" of Joannes Picus Mirandula. Not- 



Ah me ! those charms, my perishable frame 
To adorn, which heav'n had lent but to resume, 
And wond'rous, in one semblance fair combin'd, 
Are dust and mere illusion : — for the bloom 
Of frailty, mortal! never was designed 
To form thy enduring good, thy bliss supreme. 

Amongst the lighter productions ofBenivieni's muse, may 
also be enumerated his " Cantico in Laude di Dante Alighi- 
eri Poeta Fiorentino," and his " Amore Fugitivo di Mosco," 
translated from the Latin version of Politian. ( Vide Opere di 
Benivieni : nt supra. J 

(k) This work, entitled "■ Commento dello Illustrissimo 
Signor Conte Joanni Pico Mirandolano sopra una Canzona 
d' Amore, composta da Girolamo Benivieni Cittadino Fio- 
rentino secondo la mente & oppenione de Platonici," is not 
unknown to modern times, and a translation of the poem and 
commentary may be found in Stanley's History of Philosophy, 
page 196, folio, third edition, Lond. 1701, 

o o 2 



284 MEMOIRS OF 

withstanding the profound erudition displayed 
in both, their destinies in after ages have 
proved very dissimilar ; a circumstance to be 
attributed rather perhaps to their respective 
subjects, than to any defect of execution. The 
critical labours of Politian are perused and 
highly valued by the scholar of the present 
times ; but the profound theological lucubra- 
tions of Picus, are either entirely unknown, 
or consigned to voluntary neglect and ob- 
» livion. 

Picus inscribed his (e Heptaplus " to Lo- 
renzo de' Medici ; and the language of the 
epistle dedicatory is worthy of remark for the 
light which it assists in throwing upon their mu- 
tual history. "To you, Lorenzo ! I owe these 
rudiments (for such I can only term them) 
of my youthful studies, whatever their merit, 
and whether considered as the productions of 
a person who has long since dfevoted himself 
to you, or as the offspring of that leisure which 
he enjoys in the rural retreats of Fiesole by 
your particular indulgence. To you I owe 
them as composed with the frequent or rather 
constant assistance of your own intimate friend 
Angelus Politianus, whose happy and fertile 
genius, which has already been so productive 
in all the various flowers of literature, now 
promises the riper and more substantial fruits 
of philosophy. I may add, that when any 
joyful or fortunate event has occurred to those 
whom we love or honour, not content with 
mere verbal congratulations, we frequently 
strive by some little present to conspire, if 
I may so speak, to their felicity, and testify the 
sincere pleasure which we feel on that account. 
This lucubration of mine comes therefore into 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 285 

your hands at the happy moment when your 
son Giovanni has been nominated to the high 
rank of cardinal by the supreme pontiff, In- 
nocent VIII. an honour never conferred on 
any other at so early an age, but to which he 
is entitled by his own promising talents and 
disposition, and your extensive credit and 
public services. May he shew himself truly 
worthy of such an exaltation ! which indeed 
he cannot fail to do, if he takes for a model 
of his conduct, an exemplar of prudence and 
every virtue, him who is at once his parent 
and the author of his new dignity." 

Of this work, Roberto Salviato took upon 
himself the charge of superintending the im- 
pression ; and was afterwards very active in 
promoting its publicity, and causing it to be 
transmitted to distant scholars. (/) From the 
suffrages of the learned of those times, many 
of which are yet extant, it appears to have 
been considered as a production of the greatest 
merit and erudition, and in all respects worthy 
of its author's talents and pre-acquired cele- 
brity, (m) Matteo Bosso, writing to Roberto 



[I) Thus Baceius Ugolinus writing from Naples ac- 
knowledges his obligations to Roberto, " quod per te" (says 
he) " nobis vel remotioribus copia facta sit divini admodum 
operis editi nuper a Pico Mirandulano, viro sane pras omni- 
bus qui sint quique fuerint admirando : quern recte non jam 
Picum sed suum vocat Phcenicem in sacra Medicum lauro 
nidificantem Politianus noster, aliud nostras aetatis miracu- 
lum. Illius tu librum . . . cum diligentissime imprimen- 
dum, turn ad loca diversa ac distantia transmittendum, et 
plurimis ejus lectionis percupidis vel gratis habendum cu- 
rasti." (B. Ugolinus R. Salviato, Ep. Pol, Lib, vii. ep. 5,) 

{m) Sebastianus Priolus of Venice, son of the 
procurator of St. Mark, who had been a fellow student with 



<>86 MEMOIRS OF 

Salviati on this subject, asserts that he has 

operumPici, devoured rather than perused it. " So young 

pag. 267. I J & 



Picus at Padua, writing from Venice, (Cal. Oct. 1489.^) says 
" Non me latet, neque unquam latuit dum Patavii vitam 
degeres, quanta esset ingenii tui prsestantia, quanta fecund i- 
tas," — qualities which he affirms, Picus had evinced as well 
on numerous other occasions, as in this most learned work, 
Hieronymus Donatus, acknowledging the present of the 
Heptaplus, terms it a species of composition with which he 
is highly delighted, ■" quod non aliunde uberiorem segetem 
video'* (says he) '* et doctrinae et eruditionis quam in sacris 
Uteris." Baptista Guarinus expresses himself thus : " Tuum 
ad me munusculum ..... per nostri auditorii halcedonia 
perlegi omnia, relegi, &c. . . . Perge his monumentis cum 
de reiiquis literatis turn de sacrae philosophiae studiosis, quae 
vera est germanaque philosophia existimanda bene mereri, 
teque eripere morsibus edacis aevi, 8>zc." Nov. 1489. Ex Fcr- 
rara." Christophorus Landinus, in a letter to Salviatus, 
expatiates at great length on the merits of the Heptaplus, 
and in the most exuberant and enthusiastic language. Bar- 
tholomseus Fontius expresses his obligations to Salviatus for 
a similar present ; and sends him in return an oration which 
he had a short time previously addressed in public to Mat- 
thias Corvinus, king of Hungary, with a request that it 
might also be submitted to the perusal of Picus, whom he 
terms the most learned person of the age. See also the letter 
of Picus to an anonymous friend, to whom, presenting a 
copy of his work, he thus expresses himself : " Si libros, 
quasi liberos parimus, et patris maxima pars in iilio est, 
veniam ego quoque ad te in illo quern genui. Excipe 
igitur venientem ad (e filiolum meum, ut me solebas, hilaris 
et lubens, &c." (Pici Epistolar. p. 254. Ejnsd. Ep. B. 
Guarino, p. 260, et cpp. ejus passim. J 

In the tf Heptaplus," or " Hexameron," as it is some- 
times denominated, which Hermolaus Barbarus professes to 
have received by the friendl) attentions of Salviatus, and to 
have read with an avidity that scarce allowed him time to 
breathe, that scholar declares himself delighted with three 
obvious particulars : first, that Picus with the didactic style, 
had combined the hortatory and pathetic, agreeably to the 
manner of the sacred writers, as well as that of the Pytha- 
goreans and Platonists in their philosophical productions ; 
whilst the moderns were too apt to confine themselves to the 
didactic only. Secondly, — that amidst materials so various, 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 287 

a man ! " he exclaims, " yet connecting him- 
self in erudition with the most celebrated fa- 
thers of the church ! What is not such a per- 
son capable of becoming, if length of years 
be granted him in proportion to his talents ! 
What gratification may we not expect from 
the Psalms and poetical works of David, in the 
elucidation of which he has been long em- 
ployed, exploring with infinite research all 
that Latin, Greek and Hebrew authors have 
written on the subject ; and for the completion 
of which work, 1 have the happiness to say, 
he has chosen the solitude of our monastery at 
Fiesole. To behold him, to listen to him, is 
the height or felicity." 

Whatever might be the theological errors of 
Picus, errors to be ascribed rather to the time 
and to accidental circumstances, than to the 
individual, the various testimonies in favour 
of the " Heptaplus " will certainly be perused 
with satisfaction in their original form, as so 
many proofs that amidst a general enthusiasm 
for the study of the ancients and what is 
termed profane literature, which has almost 



and with such opportunities of appropriating to his own pur- 
pose the labours of others, he had evinced hiraseif free from 
plagiarism, and advanced nothing but what was entirely his 
own ; yet in so doing had, in his opinion, shewn a skill in 
handling his subject, surpassing that of any former writer. 
Thirdly, — that having proceeded on the principles of the 
platonic, rather than of the aristotelian sect, he had com- 
pressed into so small a compass, and with so masterly a 
hand, all that several of that school had advanced in the 
widely diffused pages of many volumes. " Nor" (says he) 
" can I avoid remarking how judiciously you have adopted 
a middle course between the ancient and modern theologists; 
so as neither to lose the simple majesty of the former, nor 
suffer yourself to be captivated by the studied obscurity of 
the latter." (Apud Polit. Ep. Lib, xii. ep, 40J 



.*. 



288 . MEMOIRS OF 

involved the age in the suspicion of infidelity, 
scholars of the greatest eminence really felt, 
if they were not grossly and unnecessarily dis- 
ingenuous, the superiour importance of those 
investigations which appertain to religion and 
the sacred scriptures. 

It can scarcely however, be productive of 
any valuable purpose, very minutely to in- 
quire into the merit of a work which the tacit 
consent of posterity has consigned to almost 
total oblivion. Picus, it must be acknow- 
ledged, intermixes much of platonism in his 
theological writings. They are also tinctured 
with the fancied doctrines of the Jewish Cab- 
vide Morhofii bala ; and this is particularly observable in the 
f e °i y r hl xo^ii. work in question. A celebrated writer of 
lib. i. c 7. p. modern times observes, that Picus relied great- 
i747, L hi b< 4to. ly upon the " philosophia domestica et esote- 
rica" of the Jews, which they endeavoured to 
conceal with a jealous solicitude ; and from 
the high importance which he attached to it 
was willing to purchase their mysterious books 
at a great price ; but adds, that his eagerness 
to penetrate these hitherto unexplored arcana 
blinded his judgment, and he unfortunately 
became the dupe of Hebrew craft and impos- 
ture. The " LXX. Libri Cabbalistici," which 
pid. oper. in he mentions having bought from a Sicilian 
ApoI,pas '- 82 ' Jew for an immense sum, and considered as 
the genuine collection of Ezra, have been by 
later writers pronounced a fraudulent and sup- 
Brucker His- positious compilation, artfully interpolated, 
PhiiJsopWse anc * adapted to afford a seeming confirmation 
tom. iv. parte of the mysteries of Christianity as maintained 
leqq?' 55 et kv the church of Rome. (») Hence Picus is 

(») Speaking of this fraud practised upon the credulity 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 289 

pronounced to have been ignorant of the real 
doctrines of the Jewish Cabbala, and to have 



of Picus, " In has casses" (says Brucker) " incidisse Picum 
mirum non est; cum in Academia Medicaea platonismum 
recentiorem didicisset, et cum Cosmo a(que Ficino toties 
platonice fuisset philosophatus." Brucker is here guilty of a 
strange anachronism in making Picus hold philosophical con- 
versations with Cosmo de' JVledici. 

From the " Theses Cabbalisticae," collected by Buddeus, 
from the works of Picus " ad oculum patebit" (says the 
same writer) " ignorasse Picum quid sit Cabbala, quodque 

philosophise genus ilia constituat. Definit enim, &c 

Quod vero majus et fere intolerable est, praepostero sacra- 
rum doctrinarum cum Cabbalisticis comparandarum et con- 
ciliandarum studio seductus, ubique miscet quadrata rotun- 

dis, sana venenatis, pulchra deformibus Idem in 

philosophic quam secutus est Platonica prasstitit. Syncre- 
tismo enim pestilenti, quern recentiores platonici introduxe- 
rant, et Graeci exules in Cosmi domum, et ad ipsum quoque 
Ficinum perduxerant, correptus, et lepido seductus prseju- 
dicio veram et divinam philosophiam Platonismum exhi- 
bere, Platonicorum placita Mosi aliisque viris Sanctis 
tribuit ; et ut semel complectamur, inepte miscet omnia, et 
Cabbalistica, Pythagorica, Platonica, Aristotelica, Judaica, 
Christiana, inter se misere confundit." Respecting also 
Picus's favourite design of reconciling the platonic and aris- 
totelic philosophy, w de Syncretismo quern inter Platonem et 
Aristotelem instituit," (Brucker) which was the object not 
only of his treatise " De Ente et Uno," but of a much larger 
work, often mentioned by him as occupying his attention, 
but which being left imperfect never appeared ; it may suf- 
fice to remark once for all, that it is not surprizing he should 
have formed such a scheme, " cum" (says Brucker) " Pla- 
tonicorum recentiorum ille semper mos fuerit : Picus autem 
teste Politiano (in Ep. p, 326. J primo quidem Aristotelem 
secutus sit, et ab eo demum ad Platonicos transient." (Hist. 
Crit. Phil, ut supra.) " Of the " Heptaplus" of Picus," 
(says Sixtus Senensis) (in Bibliothecd Sanctd) " various have 
been the opinions of the learned. Whilst it has been extoll- 
ed by some as a work of profound erudition, it has been con- 
demned by others as an ostentatious display of juvenile vanity 
concealing, beneath a specious exteriour, a mere pompous 
inanity. On a late occasion at Rome, I took the liberty of 
asking that most excellent prelate Aloysius Lippomanus, 
P P 



290 MEMOIRS OF 

erred even in his definition of the term. Nor 
was he more fortunate in his platonism ; hav- 
ing imbibed that corrupt species of it which 
originated in the Asiatic and Alexandrine 
schools, the Syncretism, to which the more 
recent platonists gave birth, which was intro- 
duced by the Grecian exiles into the establish- 
ment of Cosmo de' Medici, and deeply ting- 
ing the notions and writings of Ficinus, in- 
fected the whole platonic academy of Flo- 
rence. 

Amidst these graver pursuits Picus had not 
yet formed the austere resolution of totally 
abjuring all converse with the muses. He 
acquaints Andreas Corneus, that his poems 
are withheld, for the present only, from seeing 
the light, in order that by a careful re visa! 
they may be rendered more fit to meet the 
public eye. At this time, he observes, that 
he has little leisure to attend to their correc- 
tion ; being closely and urgently employed in 
a commentary upon the Psalms of David, and 
in vindicating and defending the translation 
of them used by the church ; which having 
been principally taken from the Septuagint 
version, the Jews charged with varying in 



bishop of Verona, why among so many noble authors in-? 
serted in his " Catenae," he had made no mention of so dis- 
tinguished a person as Joannes Picus of Mirandula : the 
good bishop, turning to me with much earnestness of coun- 
tenance and manner, replied, " When I compiled my •' Ca- 
tena in Genesin," I selected (hose authors who explained 
the thoughts and language of Moses, in a natural and appo- 
sile manner. Finding therefore that Picus is merely intent 
upon clothing the sentiments of platonism, or rather his own 
reveries with the Mosaic phrase and diction, I considered 
his works as utterly foreign from my purpose." 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 291 

more than six hundred places from the Hebrew 
original. " This office" (he adds) " I have 
undertaken at the earnest request of Lorenzo 
de' Medici." $™ mv * z ' 

At this season the publication of Politian's 
"Miscellanea" had attracted to that scholar 
the notice and congratulations of the most 
learned men of the age : and his moments of 
respite from severer application, were fully 
occupied in answering the friendly and flatter- 
ing epistles received from all quarters in con- 
sequence of their appearance : and it is re- 
markable that scarcely any of the complimen- 
tary letters of his correspondents fail to make 
the most encomiastic mention of Picus, whose 
praise Politian was proud to identify as it were 
with his patron's and his own. Antiquarius 
earnestly entreats by' Politian's means to be 
recommended to his friendship. Franciscus Amiquar. p - 
Benedictus, probably secretary to the Venetian litia oQ Lib * iiL 
embassy at Milan, speaking of the malevolence 
of Merula, and his idle threats to attack and 
expose the critical labours of Politian, says, 
" after repeatedly endeavouring, by reasoning 
and argument, to bring him to a more friendly 
temper, — I told him he ought to consider with 
whom he would have to contend, should he 
persist in his purpose, not merely with Poli- 
tian, a veteran soldier, but with Picus too, 
whom you justly denominate the Phoenix of 
literature ; and in short, with the whole Flo- 
rentine academy, who, from their attachment 
to sound learning, would no doubt strenuously 
espouse the cause of Politian. For he threat- 
ened to transcribe the invective, which he has 
prepared, in order to its speedy publication : 
but, 

p p 2 



292 MEMOIRS OF 

Lib. vi. ep. 8. " Parturient montes ; nascetur ridiculus mus !" 

Politian is no less jocular than his correspon- 
dent on this occasion. As Merula, says he, 
who was once my particular friend, is now 
preparing to criminate me, no doubt from 
motives not of envy but conviction, I wish 
he may cry out as soon as possible, " Juno 
Lucina fer opem !" and if need be, " Egomet 

ibid. ep. 9. q UO q ue obstetrix accurram." 

Respecting the completion of Picus's 
" Commentary on the Psalms," nothing satis- 
factory is upon record : but at the commence- 
ment of the year 1490, he certifies Baptista 

P ag,°243J Mantuanus, that he is diligently employed 
upon his favourite object of reconciling Plato 
and Aristotle. " To this work," says he, " I 
daily devote the whole of my morning hours: 
the afternoon I give to the society of friends, 
those relaxations which are requisite for the 
preservation of health, and occasionally to the 
poets and orators, and similar studies of a 
lighter kind : my nights are divided betwixt 
sleep and the perusal of the holy scriptures." 
Thus systematical was Picus in the distribution 
of his time and studies ; whilst, as he observes 
to another of his correspondents, his friend and 
associate, Politian, could bear him witness 
that he considered the one and the other hap- 
pily employed, only in proportion as they were 
rendered conducive to his own moral improve- 
ment." 

In the same year, upon the decease of 
Marcus Barbus, nephew of Paul II. and a 
member of the college of cardinals, who had 
long held the patriarchate of Aquileia, Her- 
mofaus Barbarus was nominated by Pope In- 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 2<)3 

nocent VIII. to this vacant dignity. At 
this period Hermolaus resided as ambassador 
from his native city at the pontifical court. 
His inconsiderate acceptance of this honour 
drew upon him the severest resentment of his 
country, on two accounts : first, because their 
laws forbade any Venetian citizen exercising 
a diplomatic mission to assume the clerical 
character ; and secondly, because they consid- 
ered this appointment, made by the pope 
without their privity, as a direct infringement 
of a right which they had been accustomed to 
exercise, of nominating to the patriarchate. 
The exaltation of Hermolaus therefore, though Bembi Histor. 
a subject of temporary joy to his friends, ^ e J|. ta Lutet.'' 
proved to that scholar a real and severe cala- issi, in 4to. 
mity. Amongst those who, without duly 
weighing the consequences of this event, hast- 
ened with all the eagerness of friendship to 
congratulate the new patriarch, were Picus 
and Politian. The latter, in an epistle ad- 
dressed to him on the occasion, gave utter- 
ance to his feelings in the following language. 
" Words cannot express, my Hermolaus ! with 
what joy Laurentius Medices lately informed 
me, as I sate at dinner with him, of your 
appointment to the patriarchate of Aquileia. 
As to myself, (for why should I dissemble a 
well known fact?) so enraptured was I with the 
tidings, as actually to leap and dance around 
the tables, (in ipso discubitu) exclaiming like 
a person beside himself, at the happy news. 
And now, I sincerely congratulate you, my 
Hermolaus ! I congratulate all the learned, I 
congratulate the age. You, on having re- 
ceived this new and public testimony (shall I 
call it?) or remuneration of your virtues; since 



294 



MEMOIRS OF 



though you have heretofore been distinguished 
with numerous and highly ornamental ho- 
nours, this far excels the rest; not merely as 
being greater or different in kind, but as a 
step which it is thought must shortly lead to 
your still higher exaltation. I congratulate 
the learned, because this high dignity has 
been conferred on you in particular, who have 
ever been a favourer of such, and attached to 
their pursuits. Sprung from the noblest an- 
cestry, educated in the midst of wealth and 
splendour, having rilled the most honourable 
stations and attained the very summit of al- 
most every species of erudition, you make us, 
who are either professors or students of the 
liberal sciences, though for the most part little 
distinguished by wealth or fortune, so much 
the objects of your affection and complacency, 
that you condescendingly lower as it were, 
alike to us all, the fasces and insignia of your 
dignity. I congratulate the age, because it 
has witnessed an event, worthy of being con- 
trasted with any, either of past or succeeding 
times; forasmuch as fortune, hitherto blind, 
may now be said to have recovered her sight ; 
since she delights to load with honours a per- 
son in whom almost all the virtues unite in a 
kind of audible harmony. Though still there- 
fore, more honourable, and in my judgment 
more happy, in your merits than in the reward 
of them ; yet you owe it both to the times 
and to the cause of letters, not to be wanting 
either to your own fortune or to our wishes ; 
but to press forwards, and to improve to the 
utmost the favour which you possess ; I mean 
not by cringing solicitations, which are dis- 
graceful to a philosophic mind, but rather by 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 295 

those arts which procure you the love of good 
men and the admiration of all. For my part, 
though my suffrage can benefit you in no 
other way, I will invariably render you one 
service, — by omitting no opportunity either of 
celebrating your merit, or of conciliating and 
soliciting for you the good will of others." Poiit.Ep.iib.i. 

• • • c p 1 3 

To this letter of Politian, Hermolaus re- 
plied, — " In having conceived a joy so much 
beyond what might be imagined on account 
of my good fortune, you have done nothing 
new, nothing that Idid not foresee and antici- 
pate. I am fully sensible of that excessive 
partiality which leads you to infer the proprie- 
ty of taking upon yourself the difficult and 
perplexed office of ornamenting and extolling 
my name ; of the constancy and intense per- 
severance which you have always shewn in. 
this particular, — how entirely you consider my 
concerns united with your own, whence it is 
less surprising that you should deem those 
means which are beneficial to mine, equally so 
to yours. I do, and always shall confess my- 
self infinitely obliged to you, not only as to 
an affectionate friend, but as to Politian : 
that is, to a person of consummate erudition. 
The praises of Politian are more valuable 
than as the praises of a mere friend. The 
suffrage and judgment of friendship are liable 
to~ error ; but those of Politian, however af- 
fectionate, cannot err. To Laurentius, who 
is equally your princely patron and mine, I 
feel the number and magnitude of my obliga- 
tions daily increasing : a fact which he can 
himself attest. Under the accumulated pres- 
sure of his many kindnesses, I fear I am in 
great danger of appearing little better than an _ n .. ^ 

. i i i • 5 , Inter Poht.Ep. 

mgrate and a barbarian. lib.i. e p. u; 



A 






296 MEMOIRS OF 

To gratulations not less sincere on the 
part of Picus, Hermolaus modestly replies, 
that he cannot but feel himself pleased even 
with that excess of esteem, on the part of his 
friends, which prompts them to over-rate his 
deserts. No event, he observes, however 
prosperous, would afford him such sincere 
pleasure, as to pass his days in the society of 
Picus, and in conversing with him upon the 
philosophy of nature, and the sublime topics 
of morality and religion. ' ' If you have hereto- 
fore, he adds, indulged towards me sentiments 
of complacency and benevolence, let me still, 
I intreat you, continue, if possible more than 
ever, to share your esteem ; and let the affec- 
tion which you testified for Hermolaus the 
Pagan, glow with redoubled warmth towards 
inter Poiit.Ep. t ] le new ly enlisted soldier of Christ." It is 

Lib.xu. ep.38. . J ' 

but just, to observe that this celebrated man 
manifested a temper equally firm and becoming 
in his subsequent adversity. When he saw his 
own advancement counteracted by his unrelent- 
ing countrymen, and when, he himself labour- 
ing under the weight of their severe displeasure, 
his father Zacharias had fallen a sacrifice to his 
grief, on account of those adverse events, 
which he had vainly endeavoured to alleviate ; 
then it was that Hermolaus, conscious of the 
rectitude of his own intentions, reduced his 
past speculations to practice, and found him- 
self supported by the consolations of philoso- 
ibid Ant.cai-Phy anc * religion. In an epistle to a friend on 
vo. Lib.xii. the subject of his *' Castigationes Pliniana;," 
ep ' 26, after observing that in this laborious under- 

taking, there was scarce an author whom he 
had not read, in order to give authority to his 
lucubrations, — that he had discovered and cor- 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 297 

rected not fewer than five thousand errors in 
the text of Pliny, some of which were of a 
very ancient standing, and thus subdued mon- 
sters, less formidable indeed, but far more nu- 
merous, than Hercules himself. " Allow," he 
proceeds to say, " a jest from your friend, at 
a time when some feeble-minded reasoners 
think I ought to do nothing but mourn my 
misfortunes. Some think that a cheerful face 
ill becomes the unfortunate. Some perhaps 
are offended with the constancy of my temper. 
The injurers are much more uneasy than the 
injured. Nothing could have been so valua- 
ble or so grateful as this strength of mind 
with which God has endued me, and which 
qualifies me to bear my reverses, not merely 
with temper, but with pleasure. — I make 
no complaints ; I ask nothing ; — I entertain 
no resentments ; I accuse no man. Peace, 
hilarity and thanksgivings are my sleeping 
and waking consolations. I will not say my 
persecutors, but those who suffer no persecu- 
tion, can scarcely be more at ease. But this 
ease is neither stupor nor insensibility, pride 
nor contempt. It proceeds from a due esti- 
mate of the value of temporal possessions, and 
a preparation for my latter end. If the things 
so anxiouslv contended for in this life, were 
great in themselves, their magnitude would be 
diminished by the shortness of their duration : 
if they are at best but trifles, I leave you to 
draw the inference." Writing upon another 
occasion to the same correspondent, he ex- 
presses himself thus : " My fortitude, you 
may say, proceeds from the hope that this 
storm will soon blow over, and my enemies 
become my friends. It proceeds, I assure you, 

Q Q 



I 



298 MEMOIRS OF 



from no such expectation. Fortitude ground- 
ed on such hopes would be no fortitude. He 
is a man of fortitude who feels his misfortunes 
and bears them : so bears them, as looking to 
their continuance, and flattering himself with 
no expectations of redress. To bear evils un- 
der the presumption of future redress, would 
at best be but a kind of compromise too mer- 
cenary and imperfect to deserve the name of 
genuine fortitude. Yet in separating expec- 
tation from fortitude, I would not be under- 
stood to mean that which is implied in the 
scripture expression, " It is good to trust in 
the Lord ; " but that alluded to in the passage, 
inter Poiit.Ep. " Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man, 
Llb,xiiep28 'and maketh flesh his arm." In fine, on a 
further occasion alleging, as one source of 
consolation, the purity of his motives in tak- 
ing upon him the office of patriarch, which 
far from soliciting, he had accepted with re- 
luctance, and almost by compulsion; "For- 
tune!" says Hermolaus, li I accuse you not. 
If you intended the present as a great cala- 
mity, you have deceived yourself. If you 
meant to exercise my patience, to try my for- 
titude hitherto not called into action, I give 
you thanks But supposing my misfor- 
tunes to have been greater than they are, what 
a resource, what consolation had I in store — 
in those studies Avith which I have been fami- 
liar from my youth ! While health and reason 
are left, what mishap can befal me powerful 
enough to abstract me from letters? While 
these remain to me, my life cannot but be 
tranquil, agreeable, illustrious. Born in the 
midst of letters, devoted to letters, I cannot 
exist without them : but the things which arc 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 299 

an hindrance, an interruption to them, I can 
readily dispense with. I have sustained vari- 
ous and high offices in the republic, with what 
'integrity and reputation let others determine. 
I regret not to say, that twelve years of my 
life have been devoted to such occupations; — 
eight of these entirely: all this time has however, 
been in a manner lost to letters. Oh happy 
calamity ! which has restored them to me — 
me to them — Hermolaus to himself. Happy 
misfortune ! to which I owe my peace. Au- 
spicious storm ! that hath driven me into a 
secure haven. If tranquillity be the object of 
my search, letters shall bestow it : if glory — 
letters : if other things generally deemed de- 
sirable, which I partly possess in a sufficient 
degree and partly despise, — letters. State 
honours are the admiration of politicians 
merely : literary fame excites the laudable am- 
bition of all mankind. " inter Poiit.Ep. 
About this juncture Nicolaus Leonicenus, Llb ' xue P- 29 - 
in a complimentary es,pistle addressed to Poli- 
tian on the subject of his " Miscellanea, " 
makes mention of Picus in terms very illus- 
trative of the veteran scholar's esteem for the 
latter. t( From your works I learn that in 
your tender years you had the felicity of im- 
bibing the platonic and aristotelic doctrines 
from preceptors of the highest reputation ; 
and that you now enjoy the society of Picus, 
our dear and never sufficiently to be com- 
mended prince, by a participation of whose 
studies, you will soon attain to the same pre- 
eminence in wisdom, which you already possess 
in oratory and poetry. Did I not highly es- 
teem you both and feel myself so much in- 
debted to you, I should envy your good for- 
Q Q 2 






300 



MEMOIRS OF 



polit. Ep. Lib 
ii. epp. 3» 4. 



tune who have the happiness of thus pursuing 
your philosophical inquiries in honourable 
leisure : and that too in the most flourishing 
state of Italy, and under Lorenzo de' Medici, 
and Piero his son, the most distinguished pa- 
trons of learning and virtue of the age. Happy 
should I think myself to be accounted worthy 
of participating in your studies. If circum- 
stances would permit, I should rejoice to live 
and die with you. What gratification could 
existence afford more delightful or desirable 
than to associate with persons so amicable, 
and at the same time so upright, so learned as 
you. But I will yet flatter myself with the 
fond hope of passing with you the residue of 
my declining years ; not only for the sake of 
your very agreeable society, but also that we 
may unite our efforts in behalf of the perishing 
cause of learning ; should I not say for the 
very existence of our fellow-men, whom the 
prevailing ignorance 

" How I wish," (replies Politian after speak- 
ing of Picus in his usual terms of eulogy) 
" that you were personally united with us, 
and shared as it were the same dwelling. The 
Muses, if such personages are yet in existence, 
would then, 1 am persuaded, migrate hither 
with all their shades and fountains; and under 
such leaders as yourself and Picus, the armies 
of barbarism, which now triumphantly elevate 
their standards in token of almost universal 
dominion, would speedily be put to flight." 

While separately, or in conjunction with 
Politian, Picus thus kept up an intercourse 
with other scholars of the age ; Philippus Be- 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 301 

roaldus of Bologna appeafs to have again par- 
ticipated in his epistolary attentions. The 
letter of Picus is not preserved ; but that of 
Beroaldus in answer is yet upon record, and 
merits observation not only for the more than 
sober praise which he so freely lavishes upon 
his youthful correspondent, but also as being 
peculiarly characteristic of the author's dis- 
position and style, (o) It bears date, vi. Id. 



(e) PHlLIfPUS BEROALDUS JOANNI PICO MIRAtf- 
DULANO, S. 

"Coenaturus apud Minum Roscium, qui in studiis literarurrt 
est politissimus, et senatus nostratis maximum ornamentum, 
lectitabam Plautinas fabulas urbanissimis salibus scaturientes, 
cum mihi literae tuae allatae fuerunt oppido quam literatae, 
quam tersae, quam emunctae, statimque sepositocomicolepore, 
lepidissima tua scripta festinanter legere incceptavimus : Dii 
boni ! quantum in illis venustatis, quantum eruditionis, 
quantum majestatis inesse cognovimus. Magna Joann. Pi- 
cum fama praecesserat, major inventus est ; nihil protritum, 
nihil triviale resonant tuae scriptiones. Res verbis, verba 
rebus adamussim quadrant. Latine loqueris et pure, elo- 
cutione uteris splendida. atque magnifica, dialecton habes 
plenam jucunditatis atque candoris, supellectilem verborum 
optimorum copiosissimam, sententias crebras atque rotundas, 
tarn luculente tarn eleganter animi sensa depromis, ut uni 
tibi Dii immortales dedisse videantur, quod quam paucissi- 
mis dederunt, videlicet optima sentire et optima dicere, idque 
non minus versu quam prosa oratione complecteris. Scri- 
bunt Livius et Homerus prope divinitus, non omnia uni 
Deos tribuisse ; hinc est quod saspe legimus alios eloquentia 
praestantes, alios eruditione praeditos floruisse, paucissimos 
vero, et eloquentes et eruditos simul extitisse. Hinc duo 
Romanse linguae culmina, Terentius Varro, 8z M. Cicero, re- 
feruntur, a quorum altero rerum, altero verborum doctrina 
petebatur: Alter doctissimus undecunque aTerentiano, alter 
eloquentissimus ab omnibus nuncupatur: Virgilium, ut in- 
quit optime Seneca, ilia feltcitas ingenii soluta oratione de- 
stituit; Cicero carmina scriptitavit nulla venere, nulloque le- 
pore, musis scilicet invitis atque repugnantibus. 

Tu yero et doctissimus es et eloquentissimus. Tu prosa 



302 MEMOIRS OF 



Mar. 1491, about which time, or soon after- 
wards, Picus probably completed his treatise, 



polles et versu ; scribis Iegenda, calles scribenda. Tu Mu- 
sarum alumnus merito potes nuncupari, qui non ut multi, 
imam alteram ve crateram musicam ebibisti, sed tanquam 
alter Apuleius, epolasti crateras omnis, et in primis illam 
philosophise limpidam atque nectaream quam paueissimi pri- 
moribus vix labris attingunl, vixque a limine salutant. O 
magna foscunditas animi ! — O immortalis ingenii beatissima 
ubertas, quaeiu Pico Mirandulano adhuc puero, adhucephoe- 
bo, tantas virtutes excudit, tarn multijugas disciplinas in- 
fudit, tantas animi dotes inseruit, qui aetate tyrunculus est, 
eruditione veteranus. Perge, vir doctissime, quo coepisti : 
— effice, ut crescentibus annis scientia augeatur, ingenium 
adolescat, memoria fiat vegetior, atque adminiculatior. Qui 
in juventa es nostri seculi decus et virtutis exemplum, qualis 
es futurus in senecta ! 

Papinianus a Spartiano juris asylum et doctrinae legalis 
thesaurus nominatur. Tu a nobis asylum ingenuarum dis- 
ciplinarum nuncupaberis, tu nobis quoties abditum quippiam 
in literis interioribus oceurret, thesaurus eris, imo ut verius 
loquar, jam nunc thesaurus es. Omnia etiam penitissima in 
literis tibi sunt ad manum, omnia praestd occurrunt, orbis 
ille doctrinse qui laudatur a doctis tibi in famulatu esse vide- 
tur. Tibi Grascae Latinaeque literac ancillantur. Tibi licet 
ingenium, nunc hac nunc ilia meditatione v£getare : altera 
enim alterius est condimentum. — Et ut terras varia ac mutata 
semina recreant atque refkiunt, ita mutatio studiorum ani- 
mos refovet ac amoenat. Tibi licet ingenium dulcioribus 
poetices studiis exhilarare, si quando austerioribus philoso- 
phiaedogmatibusfatiscit. Tu denique in arcestas atque fast igio 
bonarum disciplinarum, cum nos in primo vix clivo sudemus. 
Tu gradatoris gradu arctam virtutis viam conscendisti, nos 
testudineo ac formicino incessu conscendere conamur, et in 
confragosis callibus laboramus, subinde labantes, subinde 
nutabundi, ac titubantes. 

Scribo quod sentio, sentio quod scribo, calamus cum 
mente concordat. Incredibili desiderio afficior te una cum 
Politiano visendi, cui desiderio intra paucissimos dies faciam 
satis : nam Minus Roscius qui literatorum omnium est aman- 
tissimus, qui nos ambos potissimum miro amore prosequitur, 
feriis hisce paschalibus isthuc venturus est ad vota solvenda. 
Ego hominem comitabor, tuncdextram copulare vicissim lice-. 
£>it, et mutuo colloquio frui. Tunc ego literator ct gramma- 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 303 

entitled (t De Ente et Uno."(/?) Of the 
object of this work, some idea may be formed 
from the preliminary address to Politian, — for 
to him Pic us inscribed it. " You lately com- 
municated to me a conversation which passed 
betwixt yourself and Laurentius Medices on 
the subject of my present treatise ; when, es- 
pousing the cause of Plato, he disputed with 
you against Aristotle, whose " Ethics" have 
been this year the subject of your public lec- 
tures : for so multifarious and comprehensive 
are the talents of our illustrious friend, that 
he seems equal to every undertaking. What 
indeed I most of all admire in him, is that 
although continually occupied in affairs of 
state, he is constantly meditating upon, or 
discussing some literary subject. And whereas 
those who think that Aristotle dissents from 
Plato, differ in opinion from me ; you en- 
quired of me how Aristotle might be best vin- 
dicated upon this question, and reconciled 
with Plato his master. I returned you such 
an answer as occurred to me at the moment ; 
rather confirming the arguments which you 
had urged to Lorenzo, than furnishing any 



tista vos literatissimos adibo, alloquar, salutabor, tunc ego 
qui hie sapere videor, isthic fortasse mussabo, vel tanquam 
anser inter olores clangore obstrepere personabo. Interea 
vale literarum asylum, meque mutuo ama et Politianum desi- 
deratissimum raeo nomine saluta. Bo?ionice, 6. Idus. Mart. 
149 1 ." ( Vide Oper. Pici. p. 212.) 

{p) " Inter tot juges divinse legis evolutiones, secundo 
anno ab Heptapli editione opusculum etiam de Ente et 
Uno decern capitibus distinctum absolvit : breve quidem 
corpore sed amplum viribus, &c." ( Vit. ejus a Joan, Frafi- 
cisco, Nepote ejus script.) 




304 MEMOIRS OF 

uew ones of my own. Not satisfied with this, 
though you know me to have it in view (in a 
more extensive work, upon which I am at 
present employed) to shew the agreement of 
Plato and Aristotle ; you earnestly solicit me 
briefly jto commit to writing the principal ar- 
guments which I adduced to you in person, 
upon the (before - mentioned occasion, and 
when, if I am not mistaken, our friend Do- 
iiienicus Benivenius was also present, who is 
endeared to us both, as well by his erudition 
as integrity. To Politian, whom I may term 
my almost inseparable associate, I can refuse 
nothing, especially of a literary nature. Per- 
mit me however, the use of some terms which 
to you, who have signalized yourself as the 
vindicator of classical Latinity, may possibly 
appear unsanctioned with the freedom of Rome, 
but which the novelty of the subject and a 
species of necessity have extorted from me ; 
and forbear to exact the graces of style where, 
as Manilius says, 

PlC1 °J^ r# " Ornari res ipsa negat, contenta doceri." 

pag. 159. r 6 ' 

Politian professed himself highly gratified by 
this mark of respect on the part of his friend, 
and even expressed his persuasion, that the 
circumstance of thus having his name united 
with a production of Picus, would ensure him 
that immortal reputation which he had always 
aspired after, but despaired of obtaining by 
his own works. " In your treatise " De Uno 
et Ente, " (says he) " you recal the streams 
that flow down through the Lyceum and the 
Academy to their true source, and with philo- 
sophy, which is not two-fold, but one and 
unvarying, you combine our own theology. 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 305 

Why should I any longer covet the herb of 
Glaucus, destined as I am to survive to im- 
mortality not only by your means, but with 
you ? Posterity shall hereafter make mention 
that such a person as Politian once existed ; 
and that Picus, the glory of his age, esteemed 
him so highly as to inscribe to him this sub- 
lime monument of his genius." (a) inter Poiit.Ep. 

© \i ' lib. xn» ep. 5. 



(7) This brief treatise of Picus, " De Ente et Uno," 
exhibits a chain of the most profound and abstract reasoning 
concerning the Deity, expressed in a language consistent 
with the sacredness of the subject, much more free from the 
terms and phraseology peculiar to the schoolmen than might 
be expected, and which (in comparison with the mode then 
usual, of treating arguments so metaphysical and abstruse) 
may be denominated luminous and classical. The same 
work afterwards gave occasion to a friendly controversy be- 
tween Picus and Antonius Faventinus (who is otherwise 
termed Antonius Cittadinus). His " Objectiones" and the 
" Responsiones" of Picus may be found annexed to this 
Ireatise, (inter Opera Pici,) As a controversial writer 
Picus appears in a very amiable point of view. The follow- 
ing language with which he introduces his first reply to the 
objections of Faventinus bespeaks an ingenuousness, mode- 
ration and equability of temper which cannot be too much 
admired. " The pleasure which I experienced" (says he) " in 
perusing your animadversions upon my lately published work, 
was equal to the charity and honest freedom with which they 
were composed. Greatly am I indebted to you for a kind 
office which were we more ready to render our friends, or 
more willing to solicit from them, we should assuredly be- 
come both wiser and better. But a fatal notion too often 
possesses the minds of men, that those are inimical to our 
persons who disapprove our errors : that freedom of animad- 
version betokens dislike or moroseness ; compliments and 
flattery, affection and good temper. Hence it happens, that 
whilst we prefer undeserved praise to deserved reproof, we 
always incur ridicule, but never merit commendation. Be- 
hold the extent of our error. Praise of every kind is gene- 
rally unprofitable, often hurtful ; for if just, what advantage 
arises from it? but if false and unmerited, it intoxicates with 
foolish vanity the person who is the object of it, and expose? 
R R 



306 MEMOIRS OF 

Picus had now probably ceased to be a 
constant resident in the monastery at Fiesoie, 
and consented to mingle occasionally in more 
public scenes ; but neither the gaiety of Flo- 
rence, the classical magnificence and elegant 
hospitality of Lorenzo's palace, nor the less 
restrained opportunities of society and con- 
verse with the learned who were resident in, 
or occasionally visited that city, could efface 
. his partiality for his favourite seclusion, whi- 
ther he frequently retired to indulge his medi- 
tations, or converse with the religious of the 
convent and their venerable and friendly su- 
periour Matteo Bosso. That worthy abbot 
had now completed a work in which Politian 
and Picus had taken a friendly interest; and 
its publication, which took place in the year 
1491, gave rise to two pleasing epistles, the 
one of which was addressed by Matteo himself 



those who bestow it to derision. Bat reprehension is al- 
ways beneficial : if just, it instructs : if the contrary, it ex- 
cites us to the defence of truth. In a word, what else is it to 
be the object of reproof, than to be rendered better by the 
labour of another ? What else to have your work polished 
by a friendly file, than to profit, in your own leisure, by his 
vigils and studies ?" 

Faventinus was well versed in the writings of the school- 
men ; but far from possessing erudition equal to that of Picus, 
he appears to have been unacquainted with the Greek lan- 
guage. " Nee possum non mirari te," (says Picus) " etiam 
si Platonka non legcris, in Thomx tamen lectwne frequcntem, 
huic adeo insistere argumentation^ Deus est, ergo est ens, 
cum ipse Thomas ad verbum dicat, non se haec mutuo con- 
sequi esse et esse ens, sed ad diversas omnino quasstiones 
neque cognatas invicem pertinere. Quanquam quid opus 
hie Thomae authoritate ? Quis dubitat nisi insipiens an sit 
Deus ? quis rursus nisi insipiens prirsumit scire etiam aliqua 
ex parte vel minima quid sit Deus. Cum igitur diversissima 
sint, scire an sit Deus, et scire quid sit Deus, diversissima 



P1CUS OF MIRANDULA. 307 

to Roberto Salviati, (r) the other, by Politian 
to his patron Lorenzo, which besides that it is 
less generally known than the rest of his let- 



etiam erit oratio, qua dicitur Deus est, ab ea qua dicitur 
Deus est ens : cum ilia eliam Deum esse quo nihil est certius 
asseveret, haec vero quid sit Deus aliqua ex parte, quo 
nihil incertius audeat pronunciare. Quapropter rectissime 
tibi quaerenti inter disputandum quid esset Deus ? respondit 
vir doctissimus Politianus noster ex Simonidis poetae sen- 
tentia, se neseire quid esset/' ( Vide Pici Respo?is. fyc. 
Oper. p. 177. ) 



(/') MATTEUS BOSSUS, CANONICUS REGULARIS, to 
ROBERTUS SALVIATUS. 

By that respect and those kind offices which you con-» 
stantly extend to me, as well as to all who possess your good 
opinion, I acknowledge myself honoured and obliged. Such 
works of mine as you have perused, you have more than 
approved, lavishing upon them expressions of praise far be- 
yond their real merits. With frequent and friendly instances 
you have urged me to publish my " Salutaria Gaudia." Jo- 
annes Mirandula and our esteemed Politian have expressed a 
wish to the same purport ; one of whom we contemplate 
with astonishment, as the luminary of the present age, — 
while the other, in his character of an highly eminent and 
skilful professor of polite letters, is confessedly the pride and 
ornament of Etruria. The work at length issues from the 
press, which, as it were at a single birth, has brought to 
light more than six hundred copies. Permit me to present 
you with one of them for your occasional use. The perusal 
of it (if you may yet be supposed to need such a monitor) 
will, I trust, lead you to contemn the empty and delusive 
gratifications of earth and sense. It will tend to exalt your 
aims to the pursuit of true felicity, to guide you, my beloved 
friend, in the direct path that leads to blessings of incalcula- 
ble value, and to joys of eternal duration. You see our book 
waits upon you without any kind of superadded ornament 
and in the plain and simple guise in which it issued from the 
press. To you, who are at once rich and liberal, we leave 
the care of binding, and embellishing it with vermillion. 
Adieu" (Liter Po/it. Ep. Lib. vii. ep. 9. J 
R R 2 



308 MEMOIRS OF 

ters, deserves to be here introduced; not only 
as applicable to our present subject, but also 
as one of the happiest essays of that scholar in 
a species of composition wherein he possessed 
a felicity beyond most others of his age. 

Angelus Politianus, to Laurentius Medices. (<?) 

" Prudently on this, as on all other occa- 
sions you act, Lorenzo ! in chusing to pass 
the concluding days of the Lent season at your 
villa Agnana, rather than at Florence. What 
port could afford you a more secure asylum 
from the restless sea of your important occu- 
pations during this solemn contest of nature 
and grace, than that delightfully embosomed 
recess of the Tuscan shore. I also, a fugi- 
tive from the city, and our beloved Picus of 
Mirandula are constantly at Fiesole. We 
have been assiduous in our visits to the abbey 
founded by your pious ancestor Cosmo, the 
superiour of which, Matteo Bosso of Verona, 
a person of great sanctity of morals and an 
unblemished life as well as the highest at- 
tainments in polite letters, has so charmed us 
by his elegant manners and the allurements of 



(s) This letter does not occur in any edition of the 
•works of Politian. It is given in the " Itinerarium" of Ma- 
billon and Germain as a literary morceau little known : 
«' Quia rarissima est, hoc loco exhibere quoddam operas 
pretium videtur. Haec Politiani epistola praefixa est libro 
Matthsei Bossi "De Veris Et Salutaribus Animi Gaudiis"eefo- 
tionis M.ccccxci. nee alibi (quod quidem sciamus) recusa." 
From that rare work however, Mr. Roscoe has given the 
original in his " Appendix to the Life of Lorenzo de' Medi- 
ci : Vol. iii. No. lxviii. 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 309 

his conversation, that Picus and myself as 
often as we took our leave of him, contrary 
to what we ever experienced before, found 
ourselves enveloped in a kind of solitude, and 
no longer equal to our mutual entertainment. 
The worthy abbot, as if aware of this, pre- 
sented us with a dialogue of his compos- 
ing, " De Salutaribus Animi Gaudiis," by- 
way of substitute for his own society : and so 
much were we taken with the matter and 
style, that as long as we read, we actually 
ceased to feel the want of the author's pre- 
sence. This production, Lorenzo ! I now 
transmit to you for your perusal while you 
recline beneath your shade of pines, at the 
head of the fountain. You will, I think, be 
delighted with the subject, the thoughts, 
strain, polish, variety and richness of a work, 
in which the praises of your own illustrious 
house are not omitted ; and if it be honoured 
with the addition of your suffrage, the copies 
are speedily to be multiplied through the me- 
dium of the press. Adieu." 

In the month of June, 1491, Picus accom- 
panied Politian in an excursion to Venice. It 
was probably on this occasion that the latter 
paid his earliest visit to the celebrated Cassan- vide *™™^ s 
dra Fidelis, and he has left in a letter to Lo- Z o de' Medici. 
renzo de' Medici, some account of the im- A PP end - «• 
pressions made upon him by the first view of 
this learned lady. Concerning the transac- 
tions of Picus at Venice, what little remains 
upon record may be found in the letter of 
Politian above-mentioned. 

Envy, which is wont to attend upon con- 
spicuous merit and talents in every station of 
life, as the shadow upon the substance, is 



510 MEMOIRS OF 

often more than ordinarily excited by a supe- 
riority in literary attainments. From the oc- 
casional assaults of this unworthy passion, 
Politian and his friend Picus were not ex- 
empted. The reader is probably no stranger 
to those reflections which were cast by various 
individuals upon the style of the former, and 
the portenta verborum which he was charged 
Polit E Lib with affecting. Of this topic Lucius Phos- 
iii. ep. 14. phorus making incidental mention, ridicules 
the enemies of the Florentine scholar, who 
being compelled to acknowledge his accuracy 
of research, unwearied industry and unques- 
tionable erudition, wished to deny him the 
merit of classical diction. The same ridicu- 
lous critics of the age found themselves of- 
fended, as Phosphorus remarks, with the un- 
bounded encomiums which Politian constantly 
bestowed on his friend Picus, alledging (to 
evince their wit on the occasion) " illud 
iEsopaeum, nihil reliqui aliis esse." Of these 
malevolent detractors Politian declares himself 
perfectly regardless : well satisfied that his 
own style and diction will bear the test of 
classical authority. *' To eloquence," he justly 
observes, "it is not essential that it should be 
of one unvaried character " eloquentiae non 
vultus non color unus :" " and who," says he, 
" has ever yet been pronounced eloquent by 
the suffrages of every judge r — whether it be 
that each is best pleased with his own manner, 
or that what commends itself to one has no 
charms for another. Compared with Cicero, 
some pronounce Demosthenes dry and unad- 
orned. The orations of Demades are charged 
with smelling of the lamp. jEschines, in the 
judgment of some forsooth, is barbarous and 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 311 

uncouth. Others, in their decisions respecting 
him have been as contradictory as various : 
which," says he, " I notice, not because I am 
so vain as to compare myself with the orators 
of antiquity, but that you may be induced to 
restrain your resentment in the present case. 
As to, the reflections cast upon my encomiums 
of Picus, they are perfectly consistent with 
the nature of envy : but provided his life be 
prolonged, and he continue as he has begun, 
envy herself shall be compelled to own that I 
have not commended him above, but infinitely 
below his real deserts." 

Hitherto, since his retreat to Florence, 
Picus seems to have found such a degree of 
satisfaction in the society and conveniencies 
of study which that city and its neighbourhood 
afforded him, as effectually precluded every 
desire of changing the scene. The spring- 
however of the year 1492, was signalized by 
an event which was equally afflicting and un- 
expected ; and which proved in a great mea- 
sure fatal to the future prospects of these 
learned friends, and to the reviving interests 
of literature in general. This was the death 
of their illustrious patron and associate Lo- 
renzo de' Medici, who was carried off by a 
fever in the prime of life, and in the midst of 
his honourable and useful career. This af- 
fecting incident occasioned a general conster- 
nation, not only amongst the scholars and 
citizens of Florence, but the friends of learn- 
ing and social order in all the states of Italy. 
The tidings of Lorenzo's decease quickly spread 
to distant parts, with all that variation and 
dubiety of circumstances which commonly 
attend hasty rumours. Jacobus Antiquari- 






512 MEMOIRS OF 

us (7) secretary to the Duke of Milan, then on 
public business at Pa via, immediately addressed 



(t) Jacobus Antiquarius was a native of Perugia. 
His parents are represented to have been persons of exalted 
rank. He was a scholar of Joannes Antonius Campanus ; 
and in what estimation the memory of that professor was 
held by the grateful pupil, appears from his letter to Mi- 
chael Fernus, prefixed to the edition of the works of Cam- 
panus, published Romce, 1495. To the solicitude of Anti- 
quarius literature is indebted for this first and perhaps only 
entire edition " Operum Campa?ii" Michael Fernus, a Mi- 
lanese scholar, at his pressing instance undertook the super- 
intendance of the press on this occasion, and enriched the 
publication with a copious life of Campanus and a variety of 
elaborate prefaces addressed to various persons, and occurring 
in different parts of the volume. That which bears the 
following superscription " Michael Fernus Jac. Anticmario 
Ducali Secretario S." abounds with testimonies highly ho- 
nourable to the literary reputation of Antiquarius. 

On quitting his native city, Antiquarius obtained a poli- 
tical office of consequence and responsibility at Bologna. 
About the year 1 460 he removed to Milan ; where his eru- 
dition and merit enabled him to secure the favour and pa- 
tronage of the princes of that state. Under the auspices of 
Giovanni-Galeozzo, and Ludovico-Maria Visconti, dukes of 
Milan, he long held the important office of secretary and 
prime minister. Thus exalted to a rank of great eminence 
and extensive influence, he liberally and munificently ex- 
erted himself in the encouragement of useful and ornamental 
letters, of which he was recognised in his sphere as a dis- 
tinguished patron. 

Amongst other works inscribed to Antiquarius, were 
" C. Taciti Annales et Vita Agricolae," by Franciscus Pu- 
teolanus of Parma, who exercised the profession of the 
Belles Lettres at Milan, at the time when he superintended 
this publication, but was afterwards induced to accept of 
the orator's chair at Bologna. ( Vide Saxium in Hist. Ty- 
pogr. Literar. Mediolanens. ad an. 1479. J The same editor 
inscribed to Antiquarius his edition of " Plinii Panegyricus 
et Alia," published, as it is supposed, A. D. 1482, at the 
instance of Antiquarius, " in gratiam Joannis Galeatii Sfor- 
tia?," the young prince of Milan. (Vide Saxium ut supr. p. 
237. ) The prefaces to both these publications equally abound 
with the praises of Antiquarius, and incidentally furnish 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 313 

a letter to Politian requesting more circum- 
stantial information on this subject. " I have pollt - E f- Llb * 

° iv. ep. I. 



many pleasing notices of his history ; of his great munificence, 
erudition, hospitality, and especially of the purity, integrity 
and disinterestedness of his private character. With Aldus 
Manutius, Antiquarius also maintained a friendly intercourse. 
To him Aldus inscribed his edition of " Plutarchi Opus- 
cula," Gr. published Venetlis, 1509, in folio. The prefa- 
tory address written by Aldus thus terminates : " Libuit 
hie subjungere Hendecasyllabos quos, cum veni ad te Me- 
diolanum lusisti extempore pra? summo gaudio adventus 
nostri, ut faciant et hi fidem mutui amoris nostri : 

Aldus venit en ! Aldus eccevenit! 
Nostrum sinciput, occiputque nostrum, 
Mel, sal, lac quoque, corculumque solus, 
Graios altera, et altera Latinos 
Qui apprendendo manu, reduxit omneis 
In verum modo limitem, superbos 
Victores superans Olympiorum. 
Nunc O ! nunc Juvenes ubique in urbe 
Flores spargite. Vere namque primo 
Aldus venit en ! Aldus ecce venit ! 

Antiquarius seems to have enrolled his name ^amongst 
those of the members of the " Academia Romana." Amongst 
other matter annexed to the edition of the works of Cam- 
panus, by Michael Fernus above-mentioned, is the amusing 
epistle addressed to Pomponius Laetus, with the following 
superscription : 

Dictatori Perpetuo Imperatori Nostro Max- 
imo Pomponio LjEto, Magistro Equitum Ph^dro, 

CUNCTOQUE REIPUBLICiE LlTERARJiE, MlCHAEL FeR- 

nus Mediolamnius, Vilis Pabulator, strenuam 
pugnam pulchramque victoriam." 

In this whimsical address the same character is preserved 
throughout. Merula and Politian are denominated Procon- 
suls : " Proconsules illi quorum virtu te res nostra in Cisal- 
pinis et tota Hetruria tuta esse potuit, acerrime proetiando 
Merula, Politianusque oppetiere. Profluit jam lateque se- 
curus in nos difFunditur hostis." After some other curious 
matter, '* Expergiscere Imperator Maxime, indue arma, ad- 
vola, vigila, suda pro communi gloria, pro imperii Latini 
splendore, sanguinem ilium, ilium inquam, sanguinem atra- 

S S 






314? MEMOIRS OF 

this moment been informed" (says he) 6 £ that 
at the second watch of the last night a flying 
courier passed through this place on his way 
to the duke, bringing news of the death of 
Lorenzo de' Medici. Struck with astonish- 
ment at such information, with my eyes ri- 
vetted on the earth, is heaven then, I ex- 
claimed, so much incensed against us, as by 
taking away this most excellent man to be- 
reave us at once of so many fair prospects, so 
brilliant an image and exemplar of every 
virtue ! But on the calamities of Italy I for- 
bear at present to expatiate : for misfortunes 
which emanate from the loss of characters so 
elevated, are like those snows, which melting 
upon the summits of the mountains, are wont 



mentarium, effunde. Dissipa hostes, urge, ca?de, propelle, 
&c/' At length the author addresses his " Commilitones :" 
— '• Tu, Magister equitum Phoedre, quis sis nunc ostende, 
&c. . . . Primum cornu occupa Hyppolite, &c. Ah Pon- 
tane ! per ilia rayrthetis consita litora rem nostram fortiter in 
ea felicissima Ausoniae ora a Barbaris et foedo contacts 

tueare Felsinea tu qui tibi moenia propria defenden- 

da suscepisti, Beroalde, quern occupasti locum viriliter in 
proecelsa studionim matre Bononia tueare. Tibi, tibi cre- 
dita -/Emilia, &c." Ubertinus, Mancinellus, Sulpicius, An- 
tonius, &c. all successively obtain a share in this exhortation; 
after which it follows : " Sufficimus nos urbi. Si evigilet 
Imperator, nihil potest respublica nostra capere detrimenti. 
Vos vestras incolumes praestate provincias. Insubrii, Tusci, 
quanquam destituti vidtantur maximis Imperatoribus, pau- 
corum tamen patriciorum uniusque Antiquarii cura et labore 
in officio perstant, &c." 

Antiquarius died at Milan, anno 1512. "Eversisjam, 
immo pene deletis Mediolanensium Principum fortunis." 
(Vide Elogium Antiquarii ap. Saxium ut supra. Baillet in 
Diss, de Pomp. Lccto : " Jagemens" $c. Vol. i. p. 127 ; 
and the collection, entitled " Prafationes et Epistohv Volumi- 
nibus cditis appositce ah wcunabnlis Typogrophia ante 1500, 
in 4to." Also Episl, Politiani passim,) 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA, 315 

to pour down in destructive torrents over all 
the- plains." Politian, attentive to the request ^ *»■ Lib - 
of his correspondent, enters very minutely in 
his reply into all the particulars of his honour- 
ed patron's illness and dissolution, and seems 
to have experienced a melancholy consolation 
in expatiating on his many shining qualities 
and virtues. He describes the last affecting 
interview between Picus and Lorenzo, which 
took place at the express desire of the latter ; 
on which occasion the sincere and firm at- 
tachment of these illustrious friends was very 
forcibly and pathetically exhibited. Lorenzo 
evinced, upon this trying occasion, the same 
fortitude and magnanimity which he had dis- 
played through life, and yielded to his fate 
with a pious resignation ; regretting only his 
inability to complete those arrangements which 
he had so munificently made for the advance- 
ment of letters, and the useful arts, and the 
furtherance of their common studies. 

Deprived of a Maecenas by whose favour 
and patronage Politian, as he himself asserts, 
had confessedly been distinguished beyond 
every other professor of letters, and who had 
been the great spring and promoter of his 
labours, all his ardour for writing is, he de- 
clares, extinguished, and his former alacrity 
and enthusiasm for literary pursuits sunk into 
languor and inertness. He and Picus, of all 
the Florentine scholars, had possessed perhaps 
the very first place in Lorenzo's esteem. They 
were at least, amongst the most intimate of 
those friends in whose society he delighted to 
pass his hours of retirement and intermission 
from state affairs. " About two months be- 
fore his decease, sitting" (says Politian) in 
s s 2 




316 MEMOIRS OF 

ln$ chamber and conversing with us, as was 
his custom, on philosophical and literary sub- 
jects, he informed us that he had resolved to 
pass the remainder of his days with myself, 
Ficinus, and Picus of Mirandula, apart from 
the cares of government and the tumult of the 
city. He was a man" (thus the same scholar 
briefly, but emphatically, draws his character) 
" formed for every thing great, who alternate- 
ly experiencing the propitious gales and the 
adverse storms of fortune, navigated the vessel 
of the republic with so much prudence that it 
were difficult to determine whether his mode- 
ration in prosperity or his firmness and pa- 
tience in adversity were more conspicuous. 
Possessed of a versatile genius, a vigorous and 
perspicacious judgment, with respect to sci- 
ences, wherein others think it glorious singly 
to excel, he evinced himself equally eminent 
in all. Such were his probity, justice, and 
good faith, that these virtues seemed to have 
chosen the bosom of Lorenzo dc' Medici as 
their favourite mansion and temple : his affa- 
bility, politeness, and suavity of manners were 
attested by the extraordinary love and attach- 
ment not only of the commonalty but of all 
ranks. Amidst such an assemblage of great 
qualities, his liberality and magnificence shone 
with peculiar splendour, and exalting him, as 
it were to a station amongst the gods, crowned 
him with immortal glory. Far however from 
being performed with a view to fame, or from 
ostentatious motives, all his actions were the 
result of a real love of virtue. With what 
distinguishing affection, with what honours 
did he cherish men of letters of all descrip- 
tions ! What earnestness and zeal did he 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 317 

evince in enquiring after, and purchasing the 
works of Greek and Roman authors, in every 
part of the world ! What immense sums did 
he devote to that ohject ! Hence, not only 
the present age, but posterity also may be 
considered as having sustained an irreparable 
loss by his decease." 

Lorenzo de' Medici having thus equalled 
in renown, and surpassed in lustre and use- 
fulness of character, many of the most cele- 
brated persons of antiquity, it is not surprizing 
that his loss was considered as a public cala- 
mity of the first magnitude. His death, like 
that of many of those who are most cele- 
brated in history, is said to have been pre- 
ceded by a variety of supernatural and por- 
tentous events declarative of this, and, as it 
was supposed, of yet further misfortunes that 
threatened the republic. These prodigies Po- 
litian himself, not exempt from the supersti- 
tion that influenced the age, has detailed at 
length in his letter to Antiquarius : and we 
find them partially alluded to in the following 
poem which Petrus Crinitus his scholar ad- 
dressed to Picus on the same mournful occa- 
sion. 



PETRI CRINITI FLORENTINI IN OBITUM LAURENTII 
MEDICIS, AD J.OANNEM PICUM MIRANDULAM. 



Ecquis perpetuis constituet malis 

Fipem ullum, ut valeam reddere me nuhl'J 
Pridem seposui dulciloquam chelyip, 
Et blandos Charitum modos. 

Accedunt miseris funera luctibus, 
Nee quicquam superos fiectere victimis 



318 



a I i 



MEMOIRS OF 

Fas est, ut video : sic placitum Jovi, 
Qui nutu regit omnia. 

Heu ! noster Medic es, Italiae decus, 
O ! Pice, interiit. Vae misero mihi ! 
Lugete Aonidum qui colitis sacra, 
Et qui pro veteri fide 



Virtutis pretium rite reposcitis, 

Nam quis tarn rigido pectore barbarus, 
Immanique animo, quin videat statim ■ 
Sublatum columen bonis ! 

Hie solus patriam consilio gravi 
Undantem variis fluctibus extulit, 
Nil diram veritus (discite pOsteri !) 
Regum ssevitiem et dolos. 

Hie se pro pavidis civibus obtulit ; 
Hostilemque aciem robore pectoris 
Perfringens, viridi tempora gramine 
Cinxit ; dum sibi non putat 

Parcendum, ut Latio praesidium ferat. 

Heu ! heu ! quam volucri decipimur bono ! 
Incassumque pii, ut qui nimio ambitu 
Surdos distrahimus Deos. 



At Tu moesta novis, Patria ! Iacrymis 
Indulge ! nee enim cernere adhuc potes 
Quantum mox miseris civibus imminet 
Fatorum gravis exitus. 

Disjecta horrisono marmora fulmine 
Templorum, et nimium dira tonitrua 
Non frustra exitium terrificis minis 
Portendunt patriis Deis. 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 319 



O fallax utinam mentiar augur, et 
Non vero auspicium carmine proferam ! 
Tu, Pice, interea desine conqueri, 
Et parce imperio Jovis. 

Quod si non alius raox aderit Deus, 
Extinctura Italiae qui reparet decus, 
Et Phoebum cupiat sedibus Aonum 
Transferre in Latios lares ; 

Consiste in veteri praesidio tamen 

Virtutum, et quod habes auspiciis tuis 
Jam partum, in tacito contineas sinu : 
Felix sorte tua satis, 

Nam mitto tot opes ingenii, et sacrum 
Fcecundi genium pectoris, et simul 
Praeclaris animum dotibus arduum, 
Quo certum statues gradum. 

Sed me, sub tenerum tempus adhuc, velut 
Surgentem viridi robore palmitem, 
Cceli ssevities invida perculit, 
Dejecitque bonam indolem. 

Sic decussa jacent brachi a viribus 
Allisis ; neque posthac animo pari 
Audebo ingenium tollere, nee licet 
Sperare ulterius mihi. 



What term awaits our country's woes! 

When shall the afflicted bard respire ! 
Whose Muse long sleeps in drear repose, 

Whose hand forgets to attune the lyre. 



320 MEMOIRS OF 









Wounds yet more deep excite the strain 5 
Fate's keenest shaft condemn'd to prove, 

Pic us ! our vows, our tears are vain 
To avert the unpitying wrath of Jove. 

Quench'd is the glory of our land, 
Lorenzo fallen ! around his bier, 

Ye Muses, call your faithful band, 

And friendship, pour thy griefs sincere. 

Whence now shall merit's ardent eye 
Expect the wreath her brows to bind ? 

Fallen He, — her proudest boast, her joy, 
The column where her hopes reclin'd: 

Alone who dauntless met the storm, 

And steer'd our frail bark through the wave 

Generous the deep resolve to form, 
The wrath, and guile of kings to brave. 

With patriot zeal his bosom steel'd, 
For us, he sought the hostile shore ; 

Dispers'd the foe, and from the field 
The civic guerdon singly bore. 

Who from himself to thee his care 
Transferr'd, Etruria ! low he lies : 

Ah fleeting bliss ! heaven mocks our prayer ; 
Or too much urg'd our suit denies. 

Then, Florence, pour the gushing tide, 
And vent thy sorrows'unreprest : 

For woes that yet thy sons abide 
Too justly throbs thy anxious breast. 

Scath'd by Jove's bolt, the hallow'd fane 
Thou saw'st with ponderous fall descend, 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 321 

While direr thunders, not in vain 
The God's unwonted ire portend. 

Oh ! may the event belie my strain, 

And omens false this bosom move ! 
Nor thou, my friend belov'd! complain, 

Nor rashly charge the pow'rs above. 

If Latium's glories now must fade, 

Destin'd her wreaths to bloom no more ; 
No other God from Pindus, lead 

The tuneful Nine to Etruria's shore : 

Stand thou, endear'd to latest fame, 

Revolving in thy conscious soul 
Thy laurels past achiev'd, — thy claim 

Beyond the reach of fate's controul. 

But happier bards shall sing thy lore, 

Thy gifts, by heaven profusely shed ; 
To wisdom's heights, that bid thee soar, 

And firm thy foot her steeps to tread. 

For me, — as in life's spring declines 

Some sapling, by Jove's tempest riven ; 
My each young shoot of genius pines, 

Nipt by the blighting frown of heaven. 

Thus paralys'd her drooping plume, 

No more my Muse attempts her flight; 
Despair thy friend's perpetual doom, 

And set his sun in hopeless night. 

Bereft of his illustrious friend, Picus now 
resolved upon a temporary secession from Flo- 
rence where every object reminded him of the 
loss he had sustained, and the general grief 

T T 

r 
0. 



If 



3£2 MEMOIRS OF 



\ 



and despondency could not fail to add to the 
Pici iS' P°ig >nanc y °f n ^ s own regret. So early in the 
year 1492 as the 15th of May, a letter which 
he addressed to his nephew proves that he had 
arrived at Ferrara. On this occasion he does 
not employ his pen in unavailing lamentations; 
nor even directly touch upon the late afflict- 
ing event. This letter is however of a more 
sombre cast than ordinary, and consists of 
religious reflections and admonitions at once 
consolatory and impressive. On the 19th of 
the same month, Picus makes an epistolary 
acknowledgment to Troilus Malvetius for his 
" Libellus de Sortibus :" a work which the 
author had probably inscribed to him, but the 
i, \ subsequent fate of which is uncertain. Soon 

after this time, we find him again deeply 
pici oper. engaged in his oriental studies. He acquaints 
pas. 244. his nephew, that having obtained for a limited 
time the possession of certain Hebrew books, 
from a Sicilian Jew, who intended to quit 
Ferrara in the space of twenty days ; he had 
almost blinded himself by his assiduous perusal 
of them ; having scarce allowed himself, by 
day or night during a whole week, any res- 
pite from this employment. In the same let- 
ter he desires that his nephew will exert him- 
self to the utmost in engaging one of the 
Italian princes to dispense with a visit, which 
he seems at that time to have expected or so- 
licited from him ; (u) alleging that he cannot 



(u) Da operam qua ratione potes ne meum istuc adren- 
lum Barri princeps desideret : stadia enini omnia in- 
terlurbarcm mea, quibus nosti tu quam sim deditus, quan- 
quam nihil praeter ea curem. Hand satis autcm milii con- 
stat, utrum mihi molestius, illi, an mihi clisplicere. Vale, 






PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 323 

comply with his invitation without a total in- 
terruption of his beloved studies, the prosecu- 
tion of which, is in his esteem, paramount to 
every other consideration. 

The partiality which Picus, next to Flo- 
rence, evinced for Ferrara as a place of resi- 
dence, is attributed to several considerations. 
After Bologna, that city had been the earliest 
scene of his youthful studies. Its proximity 
to Mirandola might have some effect upon his 
choice : but this was principally influenced by 
the friendship which subsisted betwixt him 
and Ercole d' Este, the duke of Ferrara, with 
whose house his own was moreover connected 
by a species of affinity ; his eldest brother, 
Galeotto, having married Biancha Maria d' 
Este, the sister of the duke. A short time 
previously to this period, Picus willing to ex- 
onerate himself from the weight of secular 
dignities and cares, had for a very inadequate 
consideration, transferred to his nephew, Gio- 
van- Francesco, all his territories and other 
rights and possessions in Mirandula and Con- 
cordia, comprehending one third part of the 
patrimonial inheritance : and the Emperor 
Maximilian himself, whom these cities recog- 
nised as their superiour sovereign, had been 
induced to confirm the grant. The sums vit ane ote 
arising from this transfer, Picus employed ejus script. P , 
partly in the purchase of lands, to secure an 100, 
annual revenue for the due support of his 
household, and partly in charitable dona- 
tions, (a?) To the latter purpose the produce 

et Deum time, et te quotidie cogita esse moriturum. Fer- 
raricB, 30. Mail 1492. 

[x) " Quicquid autem ex hoc negotio pecuniarum acee- 
T T 2 



A 






S C M MEMOIRS OF 

of a great part of his rich furniture and plate, 
was appropriated : although while all undue 
luxuries were banished from his table, a rea- 
sonable portion of the silver utensils and other 
valuable moveables was preserved, to keep up 
some appearance of his former rank and splen- 
did, clour. 

While Picus, who now consecrated his 
whole attention to theological studies, thus 
manifested his indifference for secular riches 
and honours, his disinterestedness and con- 
sistency were also proved by his steady rejec- 
tion of the highest ecclesiastical dignities and 
emoluments. By the pressing and repeated 
offers of such allurements, two monarchs, 
whom his biographer forbears to name, vainly 
attempted to induce him to assume the clerical 
character. Another, desirous of attracting 
such an ornament to his court, by the offer of 
the most honourable and lucrative state em- 
ployments, was answered, that wealth and 
dignities were not the objects of his desire ; 
and that he had willingly sacrificed those 
things to religious considerations and the 



perat, partim pauperibus elargitus est, partim in emendis 
agris unde et ipse et ejus familiares alerentur, exposuit : no- 
minatimque Corbulas in agio Ferrariensi multis aureorum 
millibus nummum sibi comparaverat. (Vit. vt supra.) Not 
content with performing acts of munificence and charity the 
necessity and propriety of which suggested themselves to his 
own personal observation, Picus engaged his friend Hiero- 
nymus Benivenius to be constantly in search of such cases of 
indigence and distress amongst the poorer citizens of Flo- 
rence as might happen to escape general observation : au- 
thorizing him to supply immediate relief as necessity requir-* 
ed, and engaging to refund from his own purse whatever 
sums he should disburse on these benevolent occasions. (Vi(< 
vt supra.) 



PICUS OF MIRANDITLA. 325 

uninterrupted liberty of prosecuting his stu- 
dies, (y) 

A few characteristic anecdotes of Picus 
occur in the account of his life composed by 
his nephew, to which we have had occasion so 
frequently to refer. This performance of Gio- 
van-Francesco was several centuries ago trans- 
lated into English, with some amplifications, 
by Sir Thomas More : and the reader will not 
be averse to the perusal of an extract or two 
from the antiquated and now almost forgotten 
work of our learned countryman. Concerning 
the " Liberalise " of Picus and his " con- sir Thomas 
tempt of richesse," Sir Thomas thus expresses J^'sfejS 
himself: " Liberalitee only in him passed fol » p- ?. 
measure : for so farre was he from the gevyng 
of any diligence to erthly thinges, that he 
semed somwhat besprent with the frekell of 
negligence. His frendes oftentimes admo- 
nished him, that he sholde not all utterly 
despise richesse, shewing him that it was his 
dishonestie and rebuke, when it was reported 
(were it trew or false) that his negligence, 
and setting nought by money, gave his ser- 
vauntes occasion of disceit and robberie. Ne- 



{y) Still solicitous for his advancement, his friends at 
Ferrara strove to overcome the scruples of Picus by the in- 
termediation of Pandulphus Collenutius of Pesaro, an emi- 
nent civilian, whom they engaged to exert all his eloquence 
to persuade him to aspire to the dignity of cardinal ; or. at 
least not to reject such an honour if spontaneously offered by 
the supreme pontiff. Collenutius, who was upon terms of 
intimate friendship with Picus and acquainted with his sen- 
timents on these subjects, after some hesitation frankly avow- 
ing his commission, and naming those at whose instance he 
had undertaken it, " Return them," said Picus, " in my 
name, this answer, nan sunt cogitation.es mece cogitationes 
vestrx." (Vit> ut supra.) 



526 MEMOIRS OF 

verthelesse, that mynde of his (which evermore 
on high cleved fast in contemplacion, and in 
thenserching of natures counseill) coulde 
never letdown it selfe to the consideracion and 
overseyng of these base, abjecte, and vile 
erthly trifles. His high stewarde came on a 
time to him, and desired him to resceive his 
accompt of suche money as he had in many 
yeres resceyved of his : and brought forth his 
bokes of rekening. Picus answered him in 
this wise : My frende (saith he) I know wel 
ye have mought oftentimes, and yet maie des- 
ceyve me and ye list : wherfore the exami- 
nacion of these expenses shal not neede. Ther 
is no more to doo, if I be ought in your dette, 
I shall paie you by and by. If ye be in myne, 
paye me, either now, if ye have it : or hereaf- 
ter, if ye be nowe not able." 
ibid.pag. 4. " Before this" (says the narrative of Sir 
Thomas, alluding to his disappointment at 
Rome and the consequent " chaunge of his 
life") " he had been both desyrous of glorie 
and kindled in vaine love, and holden in vo- 
luptuouse use of women. The comely nes of 
his body, with the lovely favoure of his visage, 
and therwithall his mervelouse fame, his ex- 
cellent leraing, great richesse and noble kyn- 
dred, set many women afieron him. From the 
desire of whom he (s) not abhorring (the waie 
of life set a side) was somwhat fallen in to wan- 
ton nesse. But after that he was once with this 
variaunce wakened : he drew backe his mynd 
flowing in riot, and turned it to Christ. Wo- 



(z) " The best of us all hathe had a maddyng tyme. 1 
(Marginal note of Sir Thomas More.) 



PICUS 0F v MIRANDULA. 327 

mens hlandimentes he chaunged in to the de- 
sire of heavenly joyes, and dispising that blast 
of vaine glorie, which he before desired, now 
with all his mind he began to seke the glorie 
and profite of Christes churche, and so began 
he to ordre his condicions, that from thence- 
forth he might have ben approved: and though 
his enemye were his judge." 

"Wedding and worldly busines, he fled ibid. par. s. 
almost alike. Notwithstandynge, whan he was 
axed once in sport, whether of those two bur- 
deyns semed lighter, and which he wold chose, 
if he should of necessitie be driven to that 
one, and at his election : whiche he sticked 
thereat a while, but at the last he shoke his 
heade, and a litle smilyng he answered, that 
he had lever take him to manage, as that thing 
in which was lesse servitude, and not so much 
jeopardie. Libertie above all thing he loved, 
to which both his owne naturall affeccion, and 
the studie of philosophic enclined him : and 
for that was he alwaie wandering and flitting, 
and wolde never take him selfe to any certeyne 
dwelling, "(a) 



(a) This life of Picus by Sir Thomas More, is inscribed 
as a new year's gift, " Unto his right entierly beloved sister 
in Christ, Joyence Leigh." Three of the letters of Picus 
occur in this work. One of these addressed to Andreas 
Corneas, " a worshipful] man and an especiall frende of Picus," 
and which is the same with that cited page 220 of this vo- 
lume, is said to have been " writen at Paris, the xv. daie 
of October, the yere of grace mcccclxxxii." In the 
edition of the letters of Picus printed at Basil, 1601, it is 
dated Perusioz, 15 Oct, 1486, and the error in this instance 
is probably on the side of Sir Thomas. After the three 
letters, is translated Pico's interpretation of this psalm. 
" Conserva me Domine" Then follow I. "Twelve Rules 
of John Picus Earle of Mirandula, partely ecciting, partely 



j 



328 MEMOIRS OF 

From the narrative of Giovan-Francesco 
who dwells at much length on the private as 
well as public virtues of his uncle, we infer, 



directing a man in spiritual bataile." These are diffusely 
paraphrased in English verse. II. " The twelve weapons of 
spirituall battayle, which every manne shoulde have at hand 
when the pleasure of a sinnefull temptacion commeth to his 
minde. These are described in verse also. III. " The twelve 
properties or condicions of a lover;" and the reader from 
the following specimen will perceive that the verses of Sir 
Thomas More form an ample commentary, where his original 
has merely furnished a brief, sententious text. 

In the language of Picus these properties are thus de* 
scribed : 

1. '• To love one alone, and contempne al other for 
that one. 

2. "> To thinke him unhappy, that is not with his love. 

3. " To adourne himself for the pleasure of his love. 

4. To suffer all thyng, though it were death, to be with 
his love. &c. 

Sir Thomas: 

" The twelve propertees we have at length more 
openly expressed in Balade, as it foloweth. 

'* The first point is to love but one alone, 
And for that one all other to forsake, 
For whoso loveth many, loveth none. 
The floode that is in many channels take, 
In eche of them shall feble streames make, 
The love that is devided among many, 
Unneth suffiseth that every part have any. 

So thou that hast thy love sette unto God, 

In thy remembraunce this emprint and grave, 

As he in soveraine dignitie is odde, 

So will he in love no parting felowes have : 

Love him therfore with all that he thee gave, 

For body, soule, witte, cunnyng, minde and thought 

Parte will he none, but either all or nought." 

In like manner the other eleven properties are paraphrased, 
all in "Balade" of the same metre. Lastly occurs " A 
praier of Picus Mirandula unto God," translated into twelve 
stanzas of seven lines each, from the original Latin which 









PICUS OF MIRANDUfcA. 329 

that the mind of Picus was powerfully influ- 
enced by his religious principles, and the ame- 
liorating and perfecting efficacy of christian 
morality, strongly exemplified in his life and 
character. In him pride, ambition, anger, 
resentment, and those other turbulent passions 
which tyrannize over every bosom where they 
possess the ascendancy, were wholly, or if 
allowance is to be made for the partiality of 
friendship, at least in a great measure sub- 
dued : and we are told, that in the latter part 
of his life neither his high birth, his affluence, 
the consciousness of his own extraordinary 
powers and attainments, nor the unbounded 
admiration and applause which they excited, 
could ever produce in him any symptoms of 
vanity or self-conceit, — no events whether 
prosperous or adverse discompose the constant 
and uniform serenity of his mind. These 
great qualities however, were not wholly un- 
mixed with some portion of the superstition 
incident to the age. Picus is represented, as 
having at particular seasons, added to the usual 
mortifications prescribed by the church by 
voluntary penances and self-inflicted pains, 
which the erring judgment of those times con- 
sidered as meritorious. Of many however of 



occurs in the collections of the works of Picus. The work 
bears the following title : " The Life of John Picus, Erie of 
Myrandula, a great Lorde of Italy, an excellent connyng 
man in all sciences, and vertuous of living. : with divers epis- 
tles and other workes of the said John Picus, full of greate 
science, vertue, and wisedome : whose life and woorkes 
bene worthy and digne to be read, and often to be had in 
memory. Translated out of Latin into Englishe by Maister 
Thomas More." (See the collection of his works before-men- 
tioned, published™ folio, A.D. 1 5 57. J 

u u 







330 • MEMOIRS OF 

the abuses and corruptions of the papal hier- 
archy he appears to have been sensible, and 
on various points of doctrine his views have 
been pronounced much more rational than 

pfii Mirlndf' could be expected from the time. 

Praefatio. From the moral excellencies and virtues of 

Picus, we may pass on to notice his literary 
merits and services. Of his youthful studies 
some account has been given, and we have 
already witnessed the publication of several 
works which were the only parts of his lite- 
rary labours that he survived to finish. When 
he had begun to turn his attention to sacred 
literature and the scriptures, he is said to have 
asserted with triumph that he had at length 
discovered not only true wisdom, but genuine 
eloquence ; and he was wont to prefer the 
epistles of St. Paul in particular, to the most 
admired productions of all the orators of anti- 
quity. His labours for the elucidation of the 
books of the Old Testament were intended as 
preparatory to similar exertions with respect 
to those of the New, which he purposed to 
illustrate by a diligent collation of the manu- 
scripts and versions of them, in whatsoever 
languages then known to exist, and by com- 
mentaries which should exhibit his own origi- 
nal views and sentiments upon every part of 
the sacred volume, rather than a mere com- 
pilation of what had been already written. 
Relying upon his own skill in the Hebrew 
tongue, he undertook to vindicate the trans- 
lation of St. Jerome against the calumnies of 
the Jews. He composed a treatise " De Vera 
Temporis Supputatione." But his most elabo- 
rate undertaking was a work " Ad versus Hos- 
tes Ecclesia?," in which he proposed to refute, 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 331 

I. " The avowed and open enemies of Christi- 
anity: II. Atheists and those who reject every 
religious system, upon their own mode of 
reasoning : III. The Jews, from the books of 
the Old Testament and their own writers : 
IV. The followers of Mahomet from the Ko- 
ran : V. Idolators and such as are addicted 
to any superstitious science, amongst whom, he 
particularly directed the artillery of his argu- 
ments against the partizans of judicial astrolo- 
gy : VI. Those who, perverting the doctrines of 
Christianity, or denying due obedience to the 
church, are comprehended under the general 
name of heretics, whom he distinguished into 
no fewer than two hundred species, intending 
to make them so many distinct subjects of his 
animadversion : VII. Those christians who 
** hold the truth in unrighteousness" and discre- 
dit and contradict their profession by their 
practice." Of all these and other undertak- 
ings of his, so vast in project, scarce any 
now remain except his work " Contra Astro- 
logiam Divinatricem,"and a few "Opuscula." 
Picus, it appears, by the constant practice of 
hastily committing to paper the thoughts 
which occurred in rapid succession in a mind 
fruitful and teeming like his, and by the use 
of artificial characters invented for the pur- 
pose of brevity, as well as by frequent blots 
and interlineations, had so deformed and ob- 
scured his writing which in his youth had 
been remarkably fair and beautiful, that of 
the immense mass of manuscripts and con- 
fused papers found after his decease few could 
be decyphered or methodized. By great pains 
and labour his nephew however, was enabled 
to transcribe that portion of his voluminous 









332 MEMOIRS OF 

work which was levelled against judicial as- 
trology, and which proved to be in a more 
finished state than the rest. It was afterwards 
published in various collections of his works 
under the title of " De Astrologia Disputati- 
onum Libri XII." and has entitled Picus to 
the praise of having been the first who boldly 
and sucessfully exposed the fallacy of this 
species of superstition. (£) 

As in the matter, so also in the style of 
his compositions, Picus, disdaining servile 
imitation, was desirous of asserting his claim 
to the character of originality. His manner 
of writing, which professedly varies according 



(b) On the subject of Picus and his works Mr. Tenhove, 
in the translation of Sir R. Clayton, thus expresses himself. 
" He often repeated the maxim of S. Francis, that science is 
to be measured by works (Tantum scit homo quantum ope- 
ratur Vit. ejus a Nepote script. J which, however ridiculous 
it might have been in the Calabrian peasant, fell with dignity 
from the first scholar of the age. His treatise " De Ente et 
Uno" is no longer read, and the world does not suffer by its 
slumbers ; but the author and the work are not to be con- 
founded. It was calculated for the age, and had its use ; in 
ours it has ceased to be of any value. In the rest of his com- 
positions, a little of the ancient rust may be sometimes visi- 
ble, and if in his contempt for the vulgar errors of the times, 
he has retained a few of his own prejudices, he was at least 
the first who raised his voice against the follies of judicial 
astrology, to which all ranks of persons were then devoted, 
and which long continued to hold its empire over the human 
mind." (Memoirs, §c. Vol. i. p. 33. J 

This work was published, probably for the first time, 
Bononia:, ap. Hector. A. D. 1495, in fol. An edition of 
the works of Pjcus published in the ensuing year occurs with 
the following title : " Opera Joan. Pici Mirandula? : scilicet, 
Heptaplus De Opere Sex Dierum, Apologia xiii. Quaestio- 
num, Tractatus De Ente et Uno, Epistolae plures, &c." in 
Bononia, ap. Benedict. Hector, 1496, in fol. (Vide Die- 
tionaire Bibliographique.J 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 333 

to the different subjects of which he proposed 
to treat, in his letters and works that have 
relation to general literature, is equally copi- 
ous, classical and correct with that of almost 
any writer of his age. With the language of 
the schoolmen, or what in his day was termed 
the Stylus Pari si en sis, he was perfectly 
familiar, and could unravel all the metaphy- 
sical subtilties of those profound disputants 
with a facility peculiar to himself. Deeply 
versed in their writings from his early youth, 
he could discriminate their nicest shades of 
difference and accurately appreciate their com- 
parative powers and talents ; but above all, 
Aquinas was the author whom he was wont to 
mention with the greatest veneration, and him 
he distinguished by the epithet of " Splendor 
Theologian" In extemporaneous disputation 
his powers are said to have been prodigi- 
ous, and he is described as having combined 
in his own method all those qualifications by 
which the schoolmen were individually dis- 
tinguished and characterized. But for this 
exercise he had, long before his decease, 
formed a settled distaste ; often observing, 
that being only calculated to display the skill 
of the mere logician, it was unworthy of 
the philosopher. Admitting however, that 
such discussions might be useful in the private 
circles of friendship, and when carried on for 
the sole investigation of truth, performed in 
public, he affirmed, they only served for a 
vain ostentation of learning and to attract the 
empty applause of the vulgar, who are ever 
incompetent to decide with justice; whilst on 
the part of the disputants themselves, the de- 
sire of triumphing over and confounding an 



334* MEMOIRS CVF 

opponent generally superseded every beneficial 
and laudable purpose. With great reluctance, 
and at the repeated and urgent solicitation of 
Ercole, duke of Ferrara, in presence of a ge- 
neral synod of ecclesiastics assembled in that 
city, Picus however, once consented to enter 
the lists of public disputation, and acquitted 
himself with a skill, eloquence, and acuteness, 
which at once astonished and delighted his 
audience, and completely justified the high 
expectations which they had previously formed 
of his transcendent powers. 

Amongst the early accomplishments of Pi- 
eus, was a profound skill in music : in the 
theory, as well as practice of which he was a 
distinguished proficient. He had attentively 
studied such of the ancients as wrote concern- 
ing this art. Thus we find him, on a certain 
occasion desirous of borrowing for a few days 
™ °oT/' from bis friend Hermolaus, " Musicam Pto- 
lemaei ; " and his nephew asserts that at the 
time when he wrote, some of the musical com- 
positions of Picus were extant, and that for 
their excellence and harmony, they were held 
by competent judges in the highest estimation. 
If we enquire in short, into those circum- 
stances which thus extraordinarily conspired 
to the astonishing and multifarious attain- 
ments of Picus, in a life of so limited a dura- 
tion, and which constituted him the univer- 
sally acknowledged wonder of his age, the 
following among others are enumerated : — an 
incredible genius, — a most tenacious memory, 
— great wealth serving to facilitate the acqui- 
sition of books in every language and science, 
and in the purchase of which he expended 
more than seven thousand gold crowns, — 



pag. 254. 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 335 

constant and indefatigable application, — and 
a contempt of those honours and pursuits 
which monopolize the attention of the genera- 
lity of mankind. 

We must not however, omit to mention 
one claim of Picus to the praise of posterity, 
in which he stands almost isolated and single 
in his age ; and this is, the ardour which he 
evinced and the exertions which he used for 
the restoration of oriental literature. " It is 
not unknown" (says a great authority of our 
own times) " that from the fourth to the four- 
teenth century, there were few in Europe who 
understood any of the oriental languages. 
Jerome in the fourth century was excellently 
skilled in them, and zealous in exhorting 
others to a similar proficiency : but from his 
time to the pontificate of Clement V. the 
Hebrew and Arabic tongues seem to have 
been no where cultivated with success. In 
the council holden at Vienna in 1312, it was 
decreed that schools for teaching the Hebrew, 
Chaldee, and Arabic languages should be e- 
rected in the universities of Bologna, Paris, Ox- 
ford, and Salamanca, and in some other places. 
Near two hundred years after the holding of 
this council, John Picus, Prince of Miran- 
dula, and John Reuchlin, are reckoned a- 
mongst the first restorers of oriental literature 
in Italy and Germany, whence it is probable 
that the establishments of Clement had failed, 
in some degree, of the end proposed, "(c) 



(c) See " A Discourse delivered to the Clergy of the 
Archdeaconry of Ely, in May, 1780, by Dr. Watson, (now: 
bishop of Landaff,) on the importance of the study of Ori- 




336 MEMOIRS OF 

The large sums expended by Picus in the 
acquisition of oriental books, and the dili- 
gence and eagerness with which he embraced 
every practicable means of extending his ac- 
quaintance with this species of erudition, have 
already appeared from the tenour of this work. 
A letter of Politian to Picus, not indeed pre- 
served in the collection of that scholar's epis- 
in Dialog.! de ^ es > but cited by Lilius Gregorius Gyraldus, 
Poetis suorum has a passage illustrative of the same propen- 
tom P i°i m p m 409. sity. " I had promised" (says Politian) "to 
Ed Basii.i580, p a y y u a visit this morning for the purpose of 

infol. i • ^i t t r -Vi 

hearing the Indian stranger converse with you 
on the affairs of his native country, but a yet 
more tempting treat drew me another way : 
Pandulphus Collenutius having undertaken 
on occasion of our new chief magistrate's en- 
tering upon his office, publicly to recite a 
poem in praise of the city."(tf?) 



ental Literature :'• printed in the " Asiatick Miscellany," 
Vol. i. p. 1. Calcutta, 1785. 

The celebrated Joannes Reuchlinus or Capnio, the pre- 
ceptor of Melancthon, and restorer of Hebrew Literature, 
anno 1487, visited Florence in his literary travels, and was 
hospitably received by Lorenzo de' Medici. He appears 
also to have formed a friendly connection with Politian and 
the other members of the Florentine academy. Thus Eras- 
mus : (Reuchlino Epistola inter Epp, Illustrium ad Reuch- 
lin.) " Et infelicitatem tuam deploras ! qui felicissimo illo 
sasculo videris Italiam florente Agricola, Politiano, Hermolao, 
Pico, cui tarn varia, tamque recondita contigerit eruditio, 
qui tot summatibus viris notus ac familiaris fueris, &c." 
(Vide Hen. Mali Vitam J. Reuchlini Durlaci 1687, 8vo. et 
Ejusdem Vitam inter Adami vitas in Jul, J 

(</) Promiseram venturum mane ad te ut Indum ilium 
Hospitem de rebus patriis una tecum audirem fabulantem; 
sed unctior culina me rapuit. Pandulphus Collenutius, prae- 
tor Urbanus, carmen pro rostris, ineunte summo magistratu 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 337 

After the decease of Lorenzo, Picus cer- 
tainly became a less constant resident at Flo- 
rence, but he still continued to visit that city 
at intervals, and to cultivate with unabating 
attachment his former friendships. At the 
latter end of the year 1492, we find him Nov. 27. vide 
again at Florence ; and a letter of this period 235! ° per ' p * 
shews that he once more cherished a design 
of visiting Rome, but whether he ever exe- 
cuted it does not at present appear. In fact, 
few documents present themselves to enable 
us henceforward to determine with due pre- 
cision either the transactions of Picus, or the 
places which became the respective scenes of 
them. That however the midsummer of the 
year 1493 also found him in the society of his 
esteemed friends at Florence may be inciden- 
tally collected from the accounts transmitted 
to us of an event which was productive of 
renewed regret to him and to Politian : for vide jovii 
then it was that they, and the friends of lite- bat? 
rature in general, experienced a further cala- 
mity in the decease of Hermolaus Barbarus.(e) 



pronuntiavit. Materia Laudes Urbis. Sedi ego ad pedes 
dicentis in ipso suggestu, conspicuus omnibus. Omnes enim 
plane confluxerant qui sic ab ore dicentis pendebant, ut ad 
unum putares literatos. Carmen, grande, varium, cultum, 
nisi forsitan fefellit actio, certe potuit fallere, fuit enim plane 
Roscius. Mihi tantum tribuit, ut cum quid eminebat, ocu- 
Ios ad me statim quasi gaudens agnosci : sed exibit, puto, et 
claustra perfringet ; etenim qua forma est, diu latebras ferre 
non potest." Vale. 

(e) Hermolaus Barbarus, grandson of the cele- 
brated Francesco Barbaro, and son of Zaccheria, was born 
A. D. 1454-. His family both on the father's and the mo- 
ther's side might boast of the highest nobility. Having 
scarce attained the first rudiments of education at Venice, he 
X X 






338 MEMOIRS OF 

From the historical records of those times we 
learn, that Ferdinand the catholic, having 



was placed at an early period of his youth under the instruc- 
tion of the celebrated Matteo Bosso ; then resident at Ve- 
rona. Matteo gave testimony to the engaging temper and 
early progress of his pupil in a letter written long afterwards 
from Rome, and addressed to Picus, which is cited by Apos- 
tolo Zeno : and Antonio Brojanico, a Veronese poet of some 
celebrity, has done the same in a poetical address which 
commences with the words 



" Surge puer gravitate sehex, virtutis avitae 
Praeclarum specimen, patris imago boni," &c. 

So early as at the age of eight years he was placed by his 
father under the care of Pomponius Laetus at Rome, and 
continued to share in that professor's instructions for the 
space of ten years. At this city he commenced an intimacy 
with many of the most celebrated literati of the age ; and 
in particular with Theodore Gaza, who formed the most 
honourable opinion of his talents. On his return to Venice, 
by his father's advice he took up his abode at Padua, with a 
view to finish his education in that university. Here he first 
applied himself to the version of " Themistii Paraphrasis, 
&c." which was finished in the ninteenth, but not published 
until the twenty-sixth year of his age. The next year, viz. 
anno 1474, he was nominated to pronounce the funeral 
eulogiumof the DogeNiccolo Marcello, a composition which 
is at present extant. Retiring again to Padua he was au- 
thorized by a special faculty from the senate to read lectures 
on philosophy, and with great public approbation expounded 
Aristotle's Ethics, and drew up an epitome of them for the 
benefit of his hearers. Hermoiaus spent five years uninterrupt- 
edly at this seat of learning, and having attained his twenty- 
third year was by the general approbation and concurrence 
created a doctor ** si nella Filosofia che nelli Leggi civili e 
canoniche." At the age of twenty-five (viz. anno 1479) he 
returned to his native city, where he was speedily admitted 
to all those honours which were compatible with his rank 
and age. Yet persevering in his studies he this year inter- 
preted " Aristotelis Rhetorica;" published his " Themistius" 
in the following; in 1482 translated " Discorides," and in 
•1484, " Dialecticen Aristotelis," nut to mention fl number 
of poems and other occasional productions. 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 339 

achieved the conquest of Grenada, instituted £ nno * 491 » 

• • i \/t -i Nov. 25. 

a rigorous persecution against the Maram, by 



In June, 1484, having again retired to Padua through 
fear of the plague then prevalent at Venice, he undertook, 
at the earnest solicitations of several of the students who 
shared his friendship, to expound some of the Grecian poets 
and orators, particularly Theocritus and Demosthenes. He 
had already borne two important offices in the republic, and 
was exalted to the dignity of senator anno 14S4, viz. in the 
thirtieth year of his age. 

In the same year Ermolao opened in his own house at 
Venice (che era alia Giudecia ove ora e il nobil palazzo 
Nani) a private school of philosophy, delivering his lectures 
at an early hour in the morning, which were thence termed 
" suQivk i. e. mattutine. " His original intention was to 
admit as auditors only two or three of his friends, but scarcely 
was his undertaking divulged, when his house became a kind 
of college, and crowds assembled to hear him. Though this 
remarkable undertaking of Ermolao, was variously animad- 
verted upon, some thinking it a proof of vanity, others a 
degradation of his rank, he persevered in it till June, 1485, 
but was then obliged to intermit his lectures, in order to 
acquit himself of an embassy from his republic to congratu- 
late the Archduke Maximilian, who had recently been elected 
king of the Romans. 

When Ermolao and his colleague had arrived at Bruges 
where the ccurt then sat, upon the former as younger am- 
bassador the task devolved of addressing Maximilian in a 
complimentary oration, which he accordingly performed on 
the third of August, 1486, to the great satisfaction of the 
monarch,, who conferred upon Ermolao and his colleague 
the honour of knighthood. This oration which may be found 
inter opera Politiani, appears in print, at a greater length 
than it was really spoken, as Hermolaus had consented to 
abridge it for reasons explained in his letter to Giovanni 
Carondoleto, chief secretary of the king of the Romans. On 
his return to Venice, loaded with new honours, he was 
compelled to forego his favourite studies, for the public 
service. In 1488, the senate appointed him ambassador to 
Lodovico Sforza, duke of Milan, where his grandfather, and 
father had both formerly filled the like station. Here he 
arrived, as it is supposed, about the month of April in the 
beforementioned year : and here again his house, which was 
a noble and magnificent edifice, anjd such as was appropriate 
x x 2 



340 MEMOIRS OF 

whom the Italian writers understand those 
persons of the Jewish sect who having cori- 



to his character, became the general resort of all the learned 
of Milan ; and his ancient friend Merula consented to be 
his guest during his stay in that city : nor did his public oc- 
cupations now prevent him from resuming his critical labours 
on the works of Aristotle and Dioscorides which had previ- 
ously been intermitted. In one of his letters to Donatus, he 
observes, ** Credo Dioscoridis et Aristotelis manes impetra- 
visse mihi legationem ut aliquando absolvi possent." His 
embassy at Milan terminated in 1490, when he returned to 
his native city, and in about a year afterwards he was ap- 
pointed " Ambasciadore ordinario" to the supreme pontiff 
Innocent VIII. where we have already seen his promotion 
to the patriarchate and its consequences. 

His " Castigationes Plinianae," " opera" (says Apostolo 
Zeno) " ripiena d' immensa e varia erudizione," was begun 
at Rome in the commencement of the year 1491. The first 
part of these he composed in about twenty months ; and it 
was published liomce 1492, viii. Cal. Dec. The second part, 
with those " super Pomponium Melam, in Plinium glosse- 
roata, &c." appeared, Ibid. 1493. Erasmus assigns to Her- 
molaus the most honourable place amongst those critics who 
have undertaken to illustrate Pliny the naturalist. His la- 
bours however have not wholly escaped censure. Le Pere 
Harduin (in the preface to his edition of the same author) 
accuses Hermolaus of rioting in an unjustifiable freedom of 
conjecture, overlooking or neglecting the authority of the 
most ancient MSS. misapprehension of Pliny's meaning, and 
consequently corrupting by his learned reveries many pas- 
sages that were previously sincere. To these charges of 
Harduin, Apostolo Zeno shrewdly replies, that without 
entering into the full merits of the question, he shall content 
himself with observing, " I. That no critic has indulged 
more in the wildness of extravagant and unsupported con- 
jecture than the good father himself. II. That the passages 
of Pliny's History corrected by H. Barbarus, in which Har- 
duin silently acquiesces, are in far greater number than those 
which he ventures to censure and impugn." 

Among other works of Hermolaus Barbarus edited and 
inedited as enumerated by Apostolo Zeno, mention is made 
of a manuscript collection of his " Epistola?" in six books, 
written between June, 1484, and April, 1489 ; and then in 
possession of II Signor Battista Nani, which he deems 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 341 

sented to be initiated by baptism into the 
christian faith, had afterwards relapsed into 
their former errors. Many of these unhappy 
people flying into Italy, and more especially 
to Genoa, Pisa, and Naples, brought with 
them a pestilential disease of so malignant a 



highly worthy of publication, adding, that from the liberality 
of the noble posessor he flatters himself the republic of let- 
ters may hope to be speedily enriched with such an acqui- 
sition. 

Hermolaus is said by Trithemius to have composed at 
least twelve thousand Latin verses. That he certainly put in 
his claim to the character of a poet, appears from passages in 
his own writings. Among the " Carmina Baptistae Guarini" 
some lines occur addressed to Hermolaus, which confirm 
his early claim to the poetic wreath. But of all Ermolao's 
poetic effusions, only two short epigrams remain ; one of 
these written in honour of Ridolfo Agricola of Groningen, a 
celebrated German scholar who died at Heidelberg, October 
24-, 1 485, and preserved by P. Jovius in his " Elogia/' is 
here subjoined. 

Invida clauserunt hoc marmore fata Rodolphum 
Agricolam, Frixi spemque decusque soli. 

Scilicet hoc uno meruit Germania quicquid 
Laudis habet Latium, Graecia quicquid habet. 

Upon the first tidings of Hermolaus's indisposition, Picus 
and Politian are represented as manifesting their earnest 
solicitude for his recovery, by transmitting to him a medi- 
cine which was by the erring judgment of those times con- 
sidered as a certain specific for this dreadful malady. (Vide 
P. Jovii Elogia : ut supra.) The remains of Hermolaus 
were conveyed with due funeral honours to Rome, and he 
was interred in the church " della Madonna del Popolo," 
where the following sepulchral lines were inscribed upon his 
tomb, which, though they occur not among the poems of 
Politian, are ascribed by Menckenius, (perhaps erroneously) 
to the pen of that scholar : 

Barbariem Hermoleos Latio qui depulit omnem 
Barbae us hie situs est; utraque lingua gemit. 

Urbs Venetum vitam, mortem dedit inclyta Roma., 
Non potuit nasci nobiliusve mori. 




342 



MEMOIRS OV 



nature, that at Genoa where the greatest 
number of these refugees had settled, it is said 
to have carried off two thirds of the inhabi- 
tants. From Naples this scourge extended 
itself to Rome, and Hermolaus participating 
in the alarm which impelled many to seek for 
safety in flight, took refuge in a suburban 
villa of cardinal Oliviero Caraffa. His pre- 
cautions were however ineffectual, and his 
asylum unhappily became the scene of his pre- 
mature dissolution, which according to the 
most authentic accounts, happened in the 
month of July, A. D. 1493. It was a cir- 
cumstance in some degree consolatory that 
the fruits of his learned vigils did not perish 
with him. All his domestics and intimate 
acquaintances having, in the general conster- 
nation, sought their own safety by a precipi- 
tate flight, the literary productions of this 
unfortunate scholar, as well as his property of 
every other description must have remained, 
to use the expression of Petrus Alcyonius, 
V tanquam bona caduca," at the mercy of 
every plunderer, had not Didimo Zenotele of 
Feltri, who had served Hermolaus in quality 
of scribe, and to whose erudition the latter 
castigationum ] las DOrne honourable testimony, with a very 
vii. ' commendable zeal and prudence secured these 
Sr&UweT" P rec i QlJS remains, which were afterwards safely 
Ap.zenoDis- consigned to the nearest relatives of their 

sert.Vos. torn. f } 

ii, P . 398. auuioi. 

Picus and Politian lamented the loss of their 
literary associate as of a person in whose fate 
that of science itself was involved. M How 

inter Poiit.Ep. s j ncere i v >> / says t i ]e i a tter, writing to the 

Lib xu. cp. 1.. * * \ j * o 

former) " Hermolaus was attached to me, as 
long as he lived, how reciprocally sincere the 



PICUS OF MIRAKDULA. 343 

return of affection on my part, you can well 
attest, who yourself so highly esteemed and 
were esteemed by both ; — insomuch, that as 
each of us might flatter himself with the idea 
of possessing the first place in your affection, 
so you might on your own part justly presume 
on occupying the first in that of both of us ; 
and whilst this singular reciprosity of regard 
amongst us excited the delight of some and 
the envy of others, he who either commended 
or traduced any one of the three, was consi- 
dered as praising or traducing all." 

From the period under our present consi- 
deration to the spring of the year 1494, Picus 
again in a great measure eludes our researches. 
A letter however, addressed to him by Politian 
is extant, (written in the month of May) 
which after a very honourable eulogy on the 
memory of their deceased friend, turns upon 
some points of criticism concerning which 
Hermolaus in his " Castigationes F^nianse" 
appeared modestly to have differed from Poli- 
tian. The latter thought himself bound to 
vindicate his own sentiments, as far as they 
stood committed in his writings, or were known 
from his public conversation : since silence on 
his part might possibly be understood as an 
acknowledgement of error. This therefore he 
does by an appeal to Picus ; considering him 
as a most able and competent arbitrator tc qui 
inter amicos disceptantes litem dirimeret. " Poiit. Ep,Lib. 
To no very distant time from this may be pro- Xil * ep * 2, 
bably referred another epistle of Politian to 
Picus, which presents itself without a date. 
On this occasion Politian commences by say- 
ing, that when he was, upon a former occa- 
sion, expounding to the academic students of 



\ 



344 MEMOIRS OF 

Florence his own " Rusticus ; " having ar- 
rived at that part of the poem where, in imi- 
tation of Hesiod, he had assigned certain days 
of the month for the performance or superin- 
tendance of particular rural labours, a ques- 
tion arose in his own mind, how far such a 
distinction of days had its foundation in rea- 
son and nature ; and how far these observances 
ought to be ranked amongst the superstitious 
reveries of vulgar credulity. " You, Picus," 
(adds he) " being at present engaged in a 
work " Ad versus Astrologos," so replete with 
sound argument and erudition, are the fittest 
person to resolve me what degree of deference 
is to be paid to these precepts of the old Gre- 
cian bard ; which by imitating I have made 
my own." Afterwards recapitulating Hesiod's 
" Dierum Partitiones," and offering his own 
observations upon them, Politian confesses 
himself dissatisfied with his own judgment, 
and renews his request that Picus will consider 
the subject, and either throw his learned con- 
jectures into the form of a letter, or surfer 
them to constitute a topic for their mutual 
amusement in their next walk ; for in such 
discussions, it appears, they were wont to pass 
the time appropriated to this salubrious exer- 
cise. Politian probably wrote this letter from 
the city; whilst Picus intent upon the work 
before-mentioned, pertinaciously confined him- 
self to the solitude of his rural retreat. To 
this employment of his friend Politian revert- 
ing, thus concludes his epistle : " Herewith 
I transmit to you the following Greek epigram 
which I lately dictated under the influence of 
wrath against these "Astrologers" of yours, 
who detain you in the act of wrangling about 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 



their pretensions, and confined within the 
limits of your country villa so much longer 
than I could wish. 



EIS TON ITIKON MTPANAOTAEA. 

KAI rar arpoXoyotj ETijus/x^o/xca nsfoXso-^sc^, 

C»T7i O-Otytii; IliJCy jMl $QoVtU(T OOifHg. 

Kat yap o \ySvKsug raruv rov Xvpov iKiyy^m 
Myva^Ei ev ocypu dnpov Ikco; xoKiwg. 

IIIKE ri croi, kou rovToig ; ov <r 'tirzoLKtv uyvpTai; 
A vTitfoit ttjv (7»y EUTu^sa ypa4>i5a. 



Vain tribe avaunt ! too long your air-spun dreams 

Me of my Pico's converse lov'd beguile; 
Whilst to refute your visionary schemes, 

In solitude he spends the studious oil. 
Bethink thee Pico ! act the monk no more 
To waste on Jugglers thy perverted lore. 

For the aversion which Pic us manifested 
to the science of astrology, several futile 
reasons have heen assigned by writers, who 
ignorant of his true character, knew not that 
he was incapable of yielding to any other mo- 
tives than his love of truth. Some pretend 
that the astrologers having adduced certain of 
his Theses published at Rome, in favour of 
their superstition, he thought himself oblig- 
ed thus publicly to disavow the imputation, variiias. 
Others allege that he had himself discovered 
by the science in question, that he was des- 
tined to die young ; and took up his pen 

T Y 



346 



MEMOIRS OF 






Joan. Bapt. 
Gelli: fol. 139. 
des Discours 
Fantastiques. 
J566. 



Petri Borelli- 
Historiar. &c. 
Medico-phy- 
sic; Cent. ii. 



p. 185. 



against it out of pure resentment. Others, 
not aware of these motives, pretend that the 
astrologers, alarmed by his meditated attack 
upon them, and consulting together upon the 
most effectual means of repelling it, resolved 
upon calculating his nativity; and sent him 
the result by one of their order, Lucius Bel- 
lantius of Sienna: and subsequent events, it 
is added, justified their prediction. These 
contradictions sufficiently refute themselves. 
That Lucius Bellantius however, attempted to 
defend his favourite study by his pen against 
the assaults of Picus, is acknowledged ; but 
it seems to be generally admitted that his suc- 
cess was such as might be expected from one 
who was inferiour both in the cause which he 
^spoused, and in the learning which he brought 
to the contest, (f) 



{/) The Disputationum in Astrologiam Libri 
XII." of Picus, like many others of his works, appear to be 
the offspring of profound erudition and a correct judgment. 
They combine with a well ordered and perspicuous arrange- 
ment, an agreeable and popular style ; and a felicity and 
soundness of reasoning, which render them on many accounts 
worthy the attention of the scholar of the present more en- 
lightened period. It must indeed be owned, that his subject 
leading him to discuss many points of natural philosophy, he 
could only reason upon principles then received; many of 
which have however been since exploded. But here also 
his lights were as good as those of his opponents. He com- 
bated them upon their own hypotheses, and upon those 
which were sanctioned by the age. Whatever disadvantage 
arises to his arguments from more recent discoveries in the 
philosophy of nature, it affects those of his adversaries in an 
equal degree. Nay, if Picus could so successfully combat 
and overthrow this popular delusion as he did, under 
such disadvantages, what would he not have effected, aided 
by the lights with which succeeding times have been blessed; 
lights which uniformly serve to confirm the wisdom and pro- 



' 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 34/ 



fiy the arguments of Picus and of his friend 
Politian against judicial astrology, even the 
superstitious prejudices of Marsilius Ficinus 



priety of his undertaking, and yet more clearly expose the 
vanity and folly of judicial astrology. 

At page 302 (Lib. ii. ch. ix. which is intitled " Rard 
cvenirc qua dicunt Astrologi" J Picus thus expresses himself. 
94 Et quid aliis egemus vel testimoniis, vel conjecturis, cum 
ipsa hoc nobis quotidie experientia testificetur: in re prae- 
sertim, in qua (sicubi potest) maxime posse debet Astrologia 
prasstare veritatem : aeris scilicet mutationibus praedicendis, 
pluvia, siccitate, aestu, frigore, ventis, grandine, terrae-mo- 
X\\'y in quibus aded falsi quotidie deprehenduntur, ut nullius 
fere unquam diei status eorum praedictionibus respondeat. 
Observavi hyeme ista, in suburbana mea villa, in qua haec 
scripsimus insignem omnem singulis diebus aeris mutationem, 
ipsis interim ante oculos positis decretis Astrologorum. Ita 
salubre mihi ubique faveat coelum, ut in dierum supra cen- 
tum atque triginta jugi observatione non plus sex aut septem 
tales vidi dies, quales in eorum libris futuros ante praevide- 
ram. Meminit puto adhuc Pandulfus Collennutius meus, 
juris quidem consultus, sed in omnibus literis ingeniosissime 
eruditus, quantum nobis Bononiae risum super ista. re dederit 
quidam mathematicus, qui nos ea die copiosissimos imbres 
jubebat expectare, quam totam lucidissimussol et clarissimam 
et serenissimam reddidit." 

But for the failure of predictions such as those above- 
mentioned, Picus assigns a very sensible reason (in Libro iii. 
cap. xix. p, 339. Cur Nautce, Medici, Agricolte, vera sm- 
pius prcedicunt quam Astrologi.) " At falluntur aliquando, 
inquit Ptolemaeus, qui Astrologica nesciunt ! Quid quod 
Astrologi saepius. Conficitur igitur ut Astrologi minus As- 
trologica teneant quam qui Astrologi non sunt. Neque 
enim potest hoc denegari, magis ad fidem respondere quae 
dicunt medici de aegris, agricolae de annona, nautici de tem- 
pestatibus, pastores de pecoribus, quam quae de iisdem rebus 
ab Astrologis praedicuntur. Ratio statim in promptu est, 
quandoquidem Astrologus signa respicit quae non sunt signa, 
causas speculatur quae non sunt causa?, propterea fallitur. 
Respicit enim coelestem dispositionem, quae causa tantum 
universalis, non efficit varietatem inferiorum, nisi pro ma- 
teriae conditione causarumque efficientium inferiorum. Ta- 
men nee coelestis ilia dispositio quam respicit, sed ficta ab 
eo in coelo dispositio per vanissimas regulas et commentitias, 

y y 2 







348 MEMOIRS OF 

himself were apparently shaken : and we now 
find him addressing a letter to Politian which 
contains the semblance at least of a recanta- 
tion of his former errors respecting stellar 
inter poiit. influence. * He thus expresses himself in his 
e P \rit b ' lx " usua l style of inflation and allegory: " A- 
gainst the numerous race of astrologers, who, 
like the giants of old, vainly and impiously 
conspire to deprive Jupiter himself of his own 
heaven, Picus the favorite of Minerva, and 
you the true Hercules of literature, frequently 
and successfully enter the lists of contention. 
Orpheus sings how the same Pallas frustrated 
the hostile aims of these monsters ; many other 
bards, how by the exertions of Hercules, earth 
# and existence were at once ridded of Antaeus. 
What think you then of me? In reality, I 
who through life have been unanimous with 
you both, now as cordially conspire in your 
laudable undertaking." Ficinus next proceeds 
to explain, or rather to equivocate upon certain 



nonnatura, sed arbitrio constans astrologorum : siquidem ut 
demonstrabimus, non hominum ille pater et deorura Deus, 
in coelo fecit imagines, signa, partes, dodecatemoria, domus, 
et hujusmodi alia quibus utuntur. Sed in coelo mentitus 
haec est hominum deceptor et deorum infamator Astrologus : 
proptereaque nihil mirum si nullam rem futuram certa ratione 
praenoscere ista ars potest/' 

An appropriate answer to the story that the astrologers 
revenged themselves upon Picus by calculating his nativity, 
may be found Lib. ii. cap. ix. p. 302, 3, where he relates 
the impositions which they practised, " super Pino Ordela- 
pho Principe Foroliviensi, cui Lucretia (Pici) soror nupse- 
rat :' Also the case of " Petrus Attendalus juvenis ingenio- 
sus, qui Heleonoram habuit uxorem, Galeotti fratris filiam." 
" Constantia" also, " Antonii fratris (Pici) uxor," appears to 
have died in direct contradiction to the predictions of those 
charlatans. (Ibid. p. 303. ) 



PICHJS OF MIRANDULA. 3^9 

parts of bis own writings that appear to favour 
the superstition in question, and then con- 
cludes in the same extravagant style in which 
we have seen him begin. The answer of Po- 
litian may be allowed to derive additional 
interest from its being apparently the latest of 
that scholar's epistolary compositions left upon 
record. Assuming a language which savours 
more of irony than seriousness, " I leave Lib> x - e P- ult - 
you," (says he) " my dear Ficinus, to ima- 
gine what pleasure and exultation I feel in 
perceiving you and my friend Picus so per- 
fectly accordant that " non modo idem velitis 
in vita, sed et idem sentiatis :" in rinding my- 
self also no less dear to you both, than you 
are to each other ; and in reflecting that it is 
our common desire to forward useful science, 
actuated by no selfish views, but by the pure 
pleasure which we feel in our exertions. Such 
is our constant occupation : whilst we so as- 
sign to each his respective province, that no 
department of study lingers under our hands. 
Picus is employed in illustrating the whole of 
the sacred scriptures, and combats " directa 
fronte" against the adversaries of the church. 
Betwixt my favourite Aristotle and your own 
Plato he acts the part of a pacificator. You 
(not to mention your other versions of the 
ancients) are instructing Plato more especial- 
ly, Plato and all those of his school, to ex- 
press themselves in the Latin language, and 
illustrating them with ample commentaries. 
Upon me, (whilst in philosophy I am your 
catechumen) that variety of literary investiga- 
tions has devolved, which if possessed of less 
dignity affords equal gratification. With re- 
gard to the astrologic tribe, concerning whom 



350 MEMOIRS OF 

you have addressed to me so delightful a let- 
ter, I rejoice exceedingly to perceive that you 
either now begin to espouse the part of Picus 
or have long since espoused it : nor do I think 
it of any consequence whether you ever^were 
of another opinion, or adopted in time past 
the principles of the opposite party, (g) To 



(g) To what an extent this very learned and profound 
platonist had on some occasions been the dupe of his own 
belief in judicial astrology may be collected from a singular 
letter of his to Lorenzo de Medici, warning the latter to be 
upon his guard against certain dangers, by which he is threat- 
ened from the then present aspect of the stars. " Hodie 
Laurenti, atque eras caveto tibi. Mars enim sub Capricorno 
tuo ascendente percurrens, quadrato aspectu hodie quidem 
Saturnum, eras vero solem videtur aspicere. Praeterea Sa- 
turnus ipse ascendentis tui dominus nondum solis radios 
priores evasit, &c." He adds, that he had waited on him 
some days before, with a design of giving him earlier notice 
of this impending danger ; but on reflection, thought it best 
to defer the intelligence to the last moment, in order to 
shorten the period of his sufferings from the apprehension 
which it must unavoidably occasion. (Epistolar. Ficini 
Lib. vi. p. 803. ) 

It appears from a letter of his to Picus, that he occasion- 
ally suffered in no small degree, from his own personal 
apprehensions on the like account. The angry appearance 
of the heavenly bodies had deterred him from paying his 
usual visits to Picus. We discover, that in the struggle be- 
twixt fear and inclination he had actually twice set out, and 
turned back as often ; not being able to collect courage 
enough to pursue his walk. " Quod mense superiore tardior 
admodum quam soleam ad te accesserim in causa sit Saturnus 
mense etiam superiore retrogradus, postquam ipse ex Ca- 
pricorno soJem in Tauro per Triangulum coepit aspicere. 
Quod autem heri, bis ad te, et mane et vespere proficiscens, 
bis retuli pedem, si qua apud superos culpa est, in culpa sit 
Jupiter, —heri namque incoepit Jupiter retrogradarius esse, 
&c. M (Ficini Ep. Jh. Pico Mirandulano, Lib. viii.J Picus 
in his answer, by a delicate and ingenious play upon words, 
rallies the astrologer while he compliments the man. (See 
his letter, inter Ep, Ficini Lib, viii, Opericm torn i.) 






P1CUS OF MIRANDULA. 351 

change his sentiments is no disgrace to a phi- 
losopher who makes daily advances in wisdom, 
and often sees it expedient to accommodate 
himself to the prejudices of the vulgar, as Amt. in Ex- 
Aristotle and Plato in some of their writings p^o^Di^' 

have done In selecting me to be the logis. 

special- depositary of your sentiments, you 
have conferred upon me a distinguished obli- 
gation. That you should persist however, in 
complimenting me with the appellation of 
Hercules, I cannot altogether approve. For 
my own part I consider you as in jest, but 
am apprehensive lest you should thus afford a 
pretext to the malevolent and envious for 
cabal and derision. By such no man of real 
worth and erudition has ever been spared ; 
and when you, either wholly led astray by 
the partiality of friendship (which I must think 
to be the case) or deluded by that kind of 
slight resemblance which sometimes prompts 
us to compare small things with great, confer 
upon me this epithet, the envious party will 
I fear, term it adulation, and accuse me as 
though I felt a degree of self-complacency in 
such a name. In my estimation however, the 
assurance of your regard is of far more weight 
than whatsoever all such may either think or 
say ; and at once supported and fortified by 
my own conscious rectitude and your autho- 
rity, I hold in contempt their groundless and 
ridiculous surmises. But upon these topics 
we can enter more particularly when we meet. 
As your own villa at Careggi must be dis- 
agreeable from the heat at this season of the 
year, condescend to pay a visit to our rural 
abode at Fiesole. Here we have abundance of 
water, while from the lowness of its scite we 






352 MEMOIRS OF 

are sheltered from the sun, and always enjoy 
a refreshing breeze. Retired as is the villa 
itself, it commands the whole city. Not- 
withstanding the populousness of the neigh- 
bourhood, I live here in that solitude which is 
always grateful to those whose object is retire- 
ment. Here too you may promise yoitrselfa 
double gratification, for Picus often steals un- 
expectedly upon me, out of his own planta- 
tion, and conducts me from my concealment 
to sup with him. You know what kind of a 
table he keeps, ceconomical, but elegant, and 
enlivened by his wit and cheerful conversation. 
Nevertheless consent to be my guest. You 
will not find a worse table, and perhaps will 
meet with better wine, for in that article I do 
Lib.x. ep.uit. not mean to yield the palm to Picus himself. " 
The letter of Ficinus to which the forego- 
ing is an answer, is dated xii. Kal. Septemb. 
(i. e.) August 21,- 1494, consequently on the 
utmost latitude of calculation, Politian's must 
have been written within the space of little 
more than one month antecedently to his 
death, which happened upon the 24th. of Sep- 
tember in the same year. If the latter years 
of Politian were clouded by a series of adverse 
and painful events, which could not fail to 
have a very unfavourable effect upon his feel- 
ings and happiness, his destiny was so far kind 
as it spared him the grief of witnessing the 
premature dissolution of his honoured friend 
Picus of Mirandula, and the ruin of his patron 
Piero de' Medici. (//) 



(h) Mcnckenius lias fallen into a gross error in enume- 
rating the latter circumstance among the probable causes of 
Politian's decease. Charles VIII. instead of entering the 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 

Such was the singular fatality attendant 
upon. these illustrious friends, and associates in 
the pursuits of wisdom and science, that Picus 
did not survive Politian two entire months. 
The particulars of his last sickness and dis- 
solution are involved in little less obscurity 
than that which envelopes some of the later 
transactions of his life. Pierius Valerianus 
relates an absurd story that his illness was 
preceded or superinduced by a settled melan- 
choly and dejection, originating in some cause 
which his most intimate friends could not 
prevail upon him to explain : (i) but if this 
was really the case, it is improbable that these 
symptoms of despondency could have mani- 
fested themselves any considerable time before 
the death of Politian, whom we have seen, in 



353 



Italian territory as he supposes, in the beginning of the year 
J 494, did not effect his passage over the Alps, and arrive at 
Asti, till September 9, 1494 : and there as Guicciardini 
(Lib. i. pag. 45, editionis 1636, in 4to. impress.) informs us, 
he was constrained by sickness to remain inactive daring a 
whole month. The imprudent measures therefore of Piero 
de' Medici which deprived him of the confidence of his fel- 
low-citizens and led to his expulsion from Florence could not 
take place till after the decease of Politian. Menckenius 
has fallen into an additional mistake in supposing an ambi- 
guous poem of one of the Strozzi, entitled " Ad Angelum 
Poetanv" and which he imagines to be full of allusion to the 
plunder of the Medicean library, &c. &c. by the army of 
Charles VIII. could possibly relate to Politian. 

(i) "Florentiam reversus, ubi studiorum suorum Musseum 
instituerat, antea quam virilitatis annos ingrederetur ; mces- 
titia quadam non levi de causa affectus, tantam concepit 
aegritudinem, ut quodam modo vitam aspernari videretur; 
atque ita inter suspiria et occultas lamentationes, segritu- 
dine sua nulli amicorum communicata, virente ea astate de- 
sideratus est." (P. Valerianus de infelicitate Literatur.J 
z z 



354 MEMOIRS OF 

his last correspondence with Ficinus, describ- 
ing him as in the plenary exercise of his in- 
tellectual powers. The account of Giovan- 
Francesco is very far from corroborating that 
of P. Valerianus. He informs us that Picus, 
then at Florence, was seized with a fever of 
so insidious and malignant a nature as to baffle 
the power of medicine, and fell a victim to 
this dreadful malady on the thirteenth day. 
He describes him however, as retaining the 
possession of his mental faculties, partaking 
very devoutly of the usual ceremonies of the 
church, and conversing with his nephew 
Prince Alberto Pio, with his usual accuracy, 
upon the true grounds of christian fortitude 
and the most certain remedies against the fear 
of death. Having affectionately embraced his 
friends, and addressed them and his domestics 
in terms at once kind and consolatory, and 
strongly declarative of his perseverance in the 
principles of Christianity, and the confidence 
which he derived from them, though not en- 
tirely free from some mixture of the super- 
stition incident to the time ; this illustrious 
young nobleman and scholar expired upon the 
17th. day of November, A. D. 1494, in the 
thirty-third year of his age. His remains 
were interred in the church of S. Marco, near 
those of his former friend Politian, (A) having 



(k) Politian's remains, agreeably to the desire which he had 
in his last illness expressed, were also invested with the habit 
of the same order, not by the vicar general of the congrega- 
tion of S. Marco in person, but by his express commission. 
Plowever this may be an argument of Politian's superstition, 
it may perhaps be allowed to rank amongst those which dis- 
prove the charge of atheism by some alleged against him. 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 355 

been previously invested with the habit " de L *° Bat £ sta 
i fratri predicatori '' by the hands of their crizzione a" 
general, the celebrated Hieronymus Savona- Italia - 
rola. 

The well known epitaph inscribed upon the 
tomb of Pic us, 

Joannes, jacet. hic. Mirandula. cetera, norunt 
Et. Tagus. et. Ganges, forsan. et. Antipodes, 

is attributed to the pen of Hercules Strozza, 
who paid a similar tribute to the memory of 
Politian in the following lines : 

Quis Lycias sortes, quis Fhthiae carmina vatis, 

Transmissos Deli quis neget hue tripodas ? 
Quippe hie assidue Phoebus Musaeque parentant, 

Et caros Iaerymis saepe Javant cineres. 
Quin si fata velint, tegerentur numina sub qua 

Angelus obdormit Pulicianus humo. 



Henceforth thy oracles dread Lycian seer ! 
And Delian tripod — shall be honoured here. 
Here Phoebus lingering stands : here every Muse 
With ceaseless tears her favorite's urn bedews ; 
And could immortals die, her form divine 
Where sleeps Politian, gladly would enshrine. 

The same scholar also indulged his poetic vein 
in the following singular fancy, allusive to 
the favorite project of Picus of reconciling the 
aristotelic and platonic philosophy. 



See the authentic document respecting his burial, adduced 
by Mr. Roscoe in the " Appendix to his Life of Lorenzo de 
Medici," No. lxxxiii. 

z z % 



356 MEMOIRS OF 



, ( 







Dum stat Aristotelis cum magno rixa Platone 

Et sedet Actaei muta caterva chori, 
Nuper ad Elysios qui venerat, Angelus inquit, 

Tantum (fabor enim) ponite dissidium : 
Haud procul a nostro Pi cum modo liquimus Arno, 

Qui vestras Latio solvit in orbe vices. 
Quare age, si fas est, hunc ocyor advocet Areas 

Ultro avet haec inter agmina disserere. 
Adplausere omnes, exorataque Sorore, 

Virtutis nobis eripuere decus. 



With Plato whilst the Stagirite still contending 

To attention charms his Attic, shadowy throng, 
Politian cries — (to Elysium late descending) 

Sages ! no more this war of words prolong. 
Pic us e'erwhile by Arno's fertile stream 

I left, in Latium he your charge supplies : 
Him, your long strife to end (for his the claim) 

Let Hermes summon from yon upper skies. 
The Manes shout applause — Fate seals his doom, 
And gives the flow'r of science to the tomb. 

The clay which was signalized by the de- 
cease of Picus was the same in which Charles 
VIII. made his triumphant entrance into Flo- 
rence. This monarch, informed of the ma- 
lady of Picus and the extremity of his danger, 
sent with all possible speed two of his own 
confidential physicians to render him every 
assistance within the compass of their skill, 
and superadded to this mark of his concern a 
letter written with his own hand, and expres- 
sing in the most obliging terms his sympathy 
... . in his sufferings and earnest wishes for his 

Vita a Joan. r^i i i 

Francis, script, recovery. I he regret excited amongst the 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 357 

learned in all parts of Europe by the tidings of 
his decease was proportionable to the high 
reputation of his talents and character. To 
Germano de Ganai, rector of the university 
of Paris, Marsilius Ficinus thus expresses him- 
self in a letter written a few months after this 
event. " You desire to be certified as to the 
truth of the report concerning the death of 
Picus, of which you at present entertain some 
doubt. If under these circumstances you can- 
not repress your sorrow, how much Mall it be 
augmented when you receive from me a con- 
firmation of the fact : since grief alleviated 
by some dawn of hope is certainly more tole- 
rable than when all hope is precluded by cer- 
tainty. Alas, my Germano, would that the 
fact were really doubtful ! I can scarce at 
the present moment confirm it for tears. In 
the month of November last, and upon that 
very day when the puissant monarch Charles 
VIII. entered Florence, our Mirandula de- 
serted us."(/) Ficinus having added a brief 



(I) " Eo die tarn celebri quam postea Italiae maxime 
funesto," says Jovius. (Elog. in Picum.J The grief of 
Ficinus on this occasion did not preclude him either from 
indulging in his usual high-flown autitheses, or acting the 
sycophant and courtier when writing to a Frenchman, in a 
manner little consistent with the obligations he was under to 
the family of the Medici, or his own dignity as a philosopher : 
thus he, " Noster Mirandula nos deseruit, tanto ferme do- 
lore literatos afficiens, quanto Rex interim gaudio civitatem ; 
ita providus loci Genius, et populi gaudio, literatorum ge- 
mitum compensavit, et pro extincto philosophico lumine 
Regium interea lumen accendit, ne forsan obscurior eo die 
Florentia videretur; Mirandulanum lumen extinctum inquam 
terris, ccelo redditum. Ea enim Picus hilaris securitate ex 
hac umbra vitae migravit ut ab exilio quodam in coelestem 
patriam videretur proculdubio rediturus." ... In the same 
letter Ficinus attempts what he terms an Epigramma, in. 



358 MEMOIRS OF 

account of the works of Picus, and the state 
in which his manuscripts were found at the 
time of his decease, thus concludes his epistle. 
" To make you acquainted with another loss 
which learning has sustained and Florence 
witnessed ; in the preceding autumn and in 
the month of September, died our friend An- 
gelus Politianus, a person profoundly versed 
in Greek and Latin erudition. He had some 
time before published his " Miscellanea, " 
"Sylvas," some " Declamationes" and " Epis- 
tolas," all composed with great elegance and 
acuteness ; and was by daily minutes adding 
to the collection of his classical researches : 
but he like Picus unfortunately made use of 
abbreviated and arbitrary characters that can- 
not be decyphered ; on which account litera- 
ture has in both experienced a severer loss." 

In the religious opinions held by Picus 
and inculcated in his works, he seems to have 
. accorded chiefly with those of his own age and 
church, whom ecclesiastical writers have de- 
nominated by the general appellation of Mys- 
tics : though doubtless, if the minuter shades 
of difference be compared, he will as a reli- 
gious writer, be found to possess his wonted 
originality, and to reason and judge on many 
speculative points in a manner peculiar to him- 
self. His devotional feelings were indeed sub- 
ject to variation, and their ardour was some- 



honour of Picus, highly characteristic of its author's manner. 
" Accipe," (says he) " hoc in eum Epigramma nostrum." 

* Antistites secretiora mysteria raro admodum conce- 
dunt oculis, statimque recondunt : ita Deus mortalibus divi- 
num Philosophum Joannem Picum Mirandulam, trigesimo 
(tcrtio) aetatis anno maturum." 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 359 

times clouded by intervals of languor and 
depression, on some occasions they were ele- 
vated to a degree of innocent enthusiasm, (ni) 
Stimulated by an impulse of zeal, he had once 
formed a resolution speedily to dispose of all 
his remaining wealth and effects in charitable 
donations, and taking the crucifix in his hand, 
to travel barefooted from city to city as a 
preacher of the gospel. This resolution he is 
said afterwards to have changed for that of 
joining the order of the Dominicans, or "Fra- 
tri Preclicanti," at the instance of their gene- 
ral Hieronymus Savonarola. The character 
of this monk, who was the confessor of Picus, 
has given rise to much controversy in later 
times : by some he has been extolled as a saint 
and a martyr ; by others he is characterised as 
an artful and designing hypocrite, who under 
a pretence of zeal for true religion and for 
civil liberty, sought only the gratification of 
his own malignant, turbulent, or ambitious 
views. The boldness with which he exclaimed 
at so early a period, against the corruptions 
of the church of Rome, and withstood the 



(m) " Interdum alacritas ilia animi propemodum elan 
guescebat et deeidebat, majori quandoque nixu vires assu- 
mens, adeoque in Deum exarsisse ilium memini, ut cum 
Ferrariae in Pomario quodam de Christi amore colloquentes 
longis spaciaremur ambulacris in ejusmodi verba proruperit. 
" Tibi base dixerim, in arcanis recondito : Opes quse mihi 
reliquae sunt, (absolutis consummatisque elucubrationibus 
quibusdam) egenis elargiar ; et crucifixo munitus, exertis nu- 
datisque pedibus orbem peragrans, per castella, per urbes — 
Christum praedicabo :" accepi postea ilium mutavisse propo- 
situm et Praedicatorum ordini se addicere statuisse : interim 
eorum quae conceperat operum, quaeque inchoaverat, ma- 
turabat editionem/' 




I 

I 



360 MEMOIRS OF 

tyranny of that atrocious pontiff Alexander 
VI. the austerity of his life, the eloquence 
and fervency of his preaching, and the con- 
stancy and devotion with which he suffered a 
cruel death, procured him many advocates, 
not only amongst the members of the reformed 
church, but those also of his own communion, 
whose names stand high for piety, candour, 
and erudition. The dogmatic tone of Savo- 
narola's decisions, and his extravagant pre- 
tention to miracles and divine revelations still 
remain to be satisfactorily vindicated: but 
with respect to the latter, it is less probable 
that he acted the studied part of a conscious 
impostor, than that he was himself the dupe 
of his own superstition. We cannot forget 
how strongly this species of delusion was ex- 
cited and fostered by a credulous and unen- 
lightened age, which as yet considered these 
privileges as the certain and indispensible at- 
tributes of superiour sanctity. 

Savonarola probably, through his office of 
confessor to Picus as well as from other cir- 
cumstances, had by degrees acquired a power- 
ful ascendancy over the ingenuous mind of 
this amiable young nobleman. Flattered with 
the hope of securing to his fraternity such an 
accession of credit and authority as Picus 
would have proved, he endeavoured to con- 
vince him that the thoughts which he enter- 
tained of becoming a Dominican were the 
leadings of a divine impulse which it would be 
the height of impiety to resist. When Picus 
seemed to waver, and other views and reasons 
threatened to give to his final decision such a 
turn as was unfavorable to Savonarola's views, 
the monk had the assurance to threaten him 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. dSl 

with the discipline of the scourge. This he 
affirmed was the most suitable argument to be 
used against those carnal reasonings which 
opposed the call of heaven and arose to im- 
pede him in the way of salvation ! Picus, 
still hesitating and undecided, sought to com- 
pound with heaven for a short respite by re- 
doubling his alms and charitable donations, 
of which the monk was in frequent instances 
made the dispenser. And as to deny that this 
species of compromise was inadmissible would 
have been to controvert an acknowledged 
principle of the Romish church, Savonarola, 
in a public sermon, addressed from the pulpit 
of S. Reparata to the populace of Florence, 
confidently declared it had been discovered to 
him by a divine revelation, that Prince Gio- 
vanni Pico of Mirandula, then recently de- 
ceased, though not consigned to the pains of 
hell, had not however been as yet admitted to 
the participation of celestial bliss, but was 
still enduring the flames of purgatory ; — doubt- 
less for having so long hesitated to assume the vide VIt . 
habit of S. Domenico ! an. Pki k 

Of the compilers of brief and fugitive 1^1%, 
" Elogia" during the lapse of several centu- script, ad fin. 
ries, many relying on the report of their pre- 
decessors, have assigned to Picus an honoura- 
ble nich in those temples which they have 
been desirous to erect to the shades of de- 
parted literary heroes. By most he has been 
extolled in general terms as the miracle of his 
age, and as blest with talents and acquire- 
ments that rarely fall to the lot of mortals. 
Some, as it was probable would be the case 
with those who satisfied with unauthorised 
memorials contemn the labour of inquiry, 

3 A 



362 MEMOIRS OF 

have overstepped the bounds of probability 
and truth, and ascribed to him powers and 
qualifications which he did not possess. No 
attempt seems hitherto to have been made 
towards a regular account of his life, if we 
except the brief and unsatisfactory production 
of his nephew, Giovan-Francesco, or such as 
are founded wholly upon it. The work of 
Giovan-Francesco is little more than an en- 
thusiastic panegyric on the religious and moral 
character of his uncle ; and the author dwells 
with the most evident pleasure on such super- 
stitious particulars as the sober sense of a more 
enlightened age would rather have taught 
him to pass over, as instances of those weak- 
nesses which in some degree tarnish the lustre 
of the most brilliant characters, in this state of 
imperfection. By recognising Picus as his 
own biographer, and comparing with notices- 
deduced from his own writings such as are 
furnished by the most conspicuous of his im- 
mediate contemporaries, an accurate estimate 
may at length be formed of his real talents 
and character. Nor, it is hoped, will the pre- 
sent attempt to render him this justice be 
deemed superfluous, even though the merits 
of this long extolled prodigy of literature fall 
somewhat short of those high expectations 
which. the reader had previously been led to 
form. 

Under all circumstances however, Picus 
it is presumed still merits the admiration of 
those who contemplate with philosophic curi- 
osity the powers and capabilities of the human 
mind. He still deserves to be ranked amongst 
the few, who have successively been in the lite- 
rary hemisphere what comets and meteors arc 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. $63 

in the natural. By such phenomena nature 
occasionally takes a pleasure in exciting the 
wonder and speculation ot mankind ; but she 
presents them but rarely, and after long pro- 
tracted intervals. 



JOANNIS PICI MIRANDUI.JE DEPREC ATORIA AD DEUM. 

Alme Deus ! summa qui majestate verendus, 

Vere unum in triplici numinenumen habes; 
Cui super excelsi fiammantia moenia mundi, 

Angelici. servit turba beata chori: 
Cujus et immensum hoc, oculis spectabile nostris, 

Omnipotens quondam dextra creavit opus : 
iEthera qui torques, qui nutu dirigis orbem, 

Cujus ab imperio fulmina missa cadunt: 
Parce precor miseris,! nostras precor ablue sordes! 

Ne nos justa tui poena furoris agat. 
Quod si nostra pari pensentur debita lance, 

Et sit judicii norma severa tui, 
Quis queat horrendum Viventis ferre flagellum 

Vindicis, et plagas sustinuisse graves? 
Non ipsa iratae restabit Machina dextrae ; 

Machina supremo non peritura die. 
Quae mens non primse damnata ab origine culpae ? 

Aut quae non proprio crimine facta nocens ? 
At certe ille ipse es proprium cui parcere semper 

Justitjamque pari qui pietate tenes, 
Praemia qui ut meritis longe majora rependis, 

Supplicia admissis sic leviora malis. 
Namque tua est nostris major dementia culpis, 

Et dare non dignis, res mage digna Deo est. 
Quanquam sat digni, si quos dignatur amare 
3 A 2 



t ' 







S64 MEMOIRS OF 



Qui quos non dignos invenit, ipse facit. 
Ergo tuos placido miserans precor aspice vultu, 

Seu servos mavis, seu magis esse reos. 
Nempe reos, nostrae si species crimina vitae, 

Ingratae nimium crimina mentis opus. 
Aut tua si potius in nobis munera eernas, 

Munera praecipuis nobilitata bonis ; 
Nos sumus ipsa olim tibi quos natura ministros, 

Mox fecit gnatos gratia sancta tuos. 
Sed premit heu ! miseros tantae indulgentia sortis, 

Quos fecit gnatos gratia, culpa reos. 
Culpa reos fecit, sed vincat gratia culpam, 

Vt tuus in nostro crimine crescat honos. 
Nam tua sive aliter sapientia, sive potestas, 

Nota suas mundo prodere possit opes ; 
Major in erratis bonitatis gloria nostris ; 

Illeque prae cunctis fulget amandus amor, 
Qui potuit coelo Dominum deducere ab altOj 

Inque crucem summi tollere membra Dei, 
Vt male contractas patrio de semine sordes, 

Ablueret lateris sanguis et unda tui : 
Sic amor et pietas tua, Rex mitissime, tantis 

Dat mala materiem suppeditare bonis. 
O amor ! O pietas ! nostris bene provida rebus, 

O bonitas ! servi facta ministra tui, 
O amor ! O pietas ! nostris male cognita saeclis, 

O bonitas ! nostris nunc prope victa malis, 
Da precor huic tanto, qui semper fervet, amori 

Ardorem in nostris cordibus esse parem. 
Da Sathanae imperium, cui tot servisse per annos 

Poenitet, excusso deposuisse jugo. 
Da precor, extingui vesanae incendia mentis, 

Et tuus in nostro pectore vivat amor ; 
Ut cum morlalis perfunctus munere vitae 

Ductus erit Dominum sniritus ante suum, 
Promissi regni felici sorte potitus, 

Non Dominum, sed te sentiat esse Patrem. 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 365 

Translated by Sir Thomas More. 



A PRAIER OF PICUS MIRANDULA UNTO GOD, 

Oholy God! of dreadfull majestee, 

Verely one in three, and three in one, 

Whome Angels serve whose worke all creatures bee. 

Whiche heaven and earth directest all alone, 

We thee beseche good Lorde with wofull mone, 

Spare us wretches, and washe awaye our gilt, 

That we be not by thy juste anger spilt. 

In straite balaunce of rigorous judgement 
If thou shouldest our sinne ponder and waye : 
Who able were to beare thy punishement ? 
The whole engine of all this worlde I saie, 
The engine that enduren shall for aye, 
With suche examinacion might not stande 
Space of a moment in thine angry hande. 



Who is not borne in sinne originall ? 
Who dothe nqt actuall sinne in sundry wise ? 
But thou good Lorde art he that sparest all, 
With pitious mercy tempering justice : 
For as thou dost rewardes us devise 
Above our merite, so dost thou dispence 
Thy punishment farre under our offence. 

More is thy mercy farre then all our sinne, 
To geve them also that unworthy bee, 
More godly is, and more mercy therein. 
Howbeit, worthy ynough are thei pardee, 
Be thei never so unworthy : whom that hee 
List to accept, whiche where so ever he taketh 
Whom he unworthy findeth worthy maketh. 



\ 



366 




MEMOIRS OF 

Wherefore good Lorde that aye mercifull art, 
Unto thy grace and soveraine dignitee, 
We sely wretches crye with humble heart, 
Our sinne forgeat, and our malignitee, 
With piteous eyes of thy benign itee, 
Frendely looke on us once, thine owne we bee, 
Servauntes or sinners whither it liketh thee ! 

Sinners if thou our crime beholde certaine, 
Our crime the worke of our uncorteyse mynde, 
But if thy giftes thou beholde againe, 
Thy giftes noble wonderfull and kinde, 
Thou shalt us then the same parsones finde, 
Which are to thee, and which have be long space, 
Servauntes by nature, children by thy grace. 

But this thy goodnes wringeth us alas, 
For we, whom grace had made thy children dere, 
Are made thy gilty folke by our trespace, 
Sinne hath us gilty made this many a yere, , 
But let thy grace, thy grace that hath no pere, 
Of our offence surmounten ail the preace, 
That in our sinne thine honour may encreace. 

For though thy wisedome, though thy soveraigne powre, 

May other wise appeare sufficiently, 

As thinges whiche thy creatures every howre, 

All with one voice declare and testifie, 

Thy goodnes, yet thy singuler mercy, 

Thy piteous heart, thy gracious indulgence 

Nothing so clerely sheweth as our offence. 



What but our synne hath shewed that mighty love, 
Whiche able was thy dreadfull magestee, 
To drawe downe into earth fro heaven above, 
And crucifie God, that we poore wretches wee. 
Should from our filthy sinne yclensed bee, 



PICUS OF MIRANDULA. 367 

With bloode and water of thine owne side, 
That streamed from thy blessed woundes wide. 

Thy love and pitie thus O heavenly king, 
Our evill maketh matter of thy goodnes, 
O love, O pitie our wealth aie providing, 
O goodnes serving thy servauntes in distres, 
O love, O pitie, wel nigh now thankles 
O goodnes mightie gracious and wise, 
And yet almost vainquished with our vyce. 

Graunt, I thee praie, suche heat into mine heart, 
That to this love of thine may be egal: 
Graunt me fro Sathanas service to astart, 
With whom me rueth so long to have be thrall, 
Graunt me good Lorde, and creatour of all, 
The flame to quenche of all sinnefull desire, 
And in thy love sette all mine heart a fire. 

That whan the jorney of this deadly life 
My sely goost hath finished, and thence 
Departen must : without his fleshly wife 
Alone into his Lordes high presence 
He maye thee finde : O well of indulgence, 
In thy lordeship not as a Lorde : but rather 
As a very tender loving Father. 




MEMOIRS 

OF 

SANNAZARIUS. 



da saero cineri flores i hic ille maroni 

syncerus musa proximus ut tumulo. 

Bembus. 



A he family of Sannazarius is said to 
have been originally of Spanish extraction : 
but settled at an early period at Santo Na- 
zaro, a flourishing town situated between the 
Tesino and the Po, where it was long con- Ne» campi <n 
spicuous for nobility and opulence. Reduced V >m j lli ? a ' *? 
at length by the calamities of war, the more Milan? y ° 
immediate progenitors of this poet removed 
to Naples, where Giacomo Sannazzaro was 
korn A. D. 1458. At that period Alfonsus v. Kai. sextiL 
of Aragon, being at the point of death, trans- ^ sto .4 ie s> 
ferred the crown of Naples to Ferdinand his 
illegitimate son. Sannazarius had the mis- 
fortune to lose his father before he arrived at 
3 b 



370 MEMOIRS OF 

an age of sufficient discretion to be left at his 
own disposal. His mother Mas el la, a wo- 
man of masculine spirit, being compelled to 
struggle with great pecuniary difficulties, and 
finding herself unable longer to support her 
former rank at Naples, retired with her young 
family into Uinbria, and took up her residence 
at Nocera di Pagani. In this retirement, 
Sannazarius passed a considerable portion of 
his early youth, (a) He had, previously to 
his removal from Naples, acquired the ele- 
ments of the Latin and Greek languages, 
under the tuition of Junianus Maius, whom 
with grateful recollection he frequently cele- 
brates in his poems. His preceptor, aware of 
the promising talents of young Giacomo was 
particularly urgent in advising his mother to 
allow him, as early as circumstances would 
sannazariivi- permit, to resume his studies at Naples; and 
vuipno con. nt * in compliance with this advice she at length 
saipta. returned again to take up her abode in that 

At this time flourished Jovianus Pon- 
tanus, (b) whose house frequented by the 



(a) Vide Elegiam t( Quod pueritiam egerit in Picenti- 

nis," (inter poe?nala ejus. J 

(b) Joannes Jovianus Pontanus, who makes a 
very conspicuous figure among the learned of these times, 
was born at Cerreto in Umbria, A. D. 1426. He after- 
wards settled at Naples, where he obtained the patronage 
and favour of Alfonso, and of Ferdinand his successor: and 
filled the highest offices of the state. He eminently dis- 
tinguished himself, not only as a poet, but also as a writer 
on various subjects. His poetical works were published by 
Aldus in Svo. 1505, and again in two volumes, 1513, 1518. 
His prose works at the same press, in three volumes 8vo. 
1518, 1519. 



SANNAZARIUS. 3?1 

flower of the studious Neapolitan youth, and 
especially by the nobility, was considered as 
the temple of wisdom and of the muses. The 
"Academia Pol tana" and its particular usages 
have been already noticed. It was in conse- 
quence of his reception as a member of this 
literary society, that Giacomo assumed the 
name ofAcTiusSyNCERUs by which we find 
him so often distinguished. 

Sannazarius formed an early attachment of 
the most tender kind to Carmosina Bonifacia, 



It has been justly a subject of surprize, that Pontanus 
who was secretary of state to Ferdinand, and for a long 
series of years busily occupied in public affairs, should ne- 
vertheless have found leisure and inclination for the pursuits 
of literature ; in which he was so successful, that many have 
considered him as the most accomplished poet and scholar 
of his age. Le Sieur Lionardo Nicodemo, has pronounced 
Pontanus to have been with regard to Politian, what Entellus 
was to Dares. More rigid critics affirm that Pontanus in- 
jured his own reputation as a poet, by writing hastily what- 
ever occurred to him, and neglecting afterwards to retrench 
any part of what he had thus composed. So sparing was he 
of the Jile, that it was his custom rather to add than diminish, 
upon every revisal of his works. But as M. Baillet observes, 
he has one fault still greater, and more injurious to his cha- 
racter, on which it has indeed infixed an indelible stain ; 
and that is the gross indecency that pervades many of his 
poetical compositions. He is said to be himself the author 
of the following inscription, which was after his decease 
engraven on his tomb : 

Sum Joannes Jovianus Pontanus, 

Quem amaverunt bonae Musse, 

Suspexerunt viri probi, 

Honestaverunt reges, domini. 

Scis quis sim, aut potius quis fuerim ; 

Ego vero te, hospes ! noscere in tenebris nequeo e 

Sed teipsum ut noscas rogo : vale. 

He died according to some accounts, in the year 1503; or 
as others inform us, in 1505. 

3 B % 



372 MEMOIRS OF 

a young Neapolitan lady of exquisite beauty, 
but in his suit had the misfortune to experi- 
ence all the anxiety and solicitude incident to 
one whose passion meets not with a reciprocal 
return : and such painful feelings gave rise to 
many of those querulous sonnets and canzoni 
of his which are yet extant, (c) In composi- 
tions of this kind, Sannazarius is considered 
as having surpassed every other poet from the 
days of Petrarch. Whilst thus occupied, he 
lost his mother, whom he very feelingly la- 
ments in his Arcadia. To banish if possible 
the remembrance of his unkind mistress, he 
undertook a journey to a remote part of 
France, which country some suppose him to 
have described under the above-mentioned ro- 
mantic appellation, (d) But rinding his un- 
easiness rather increased than diminished in 
proportion to his distance from the object be- 
loved, he again returned with all possible 
expedition to Naples. On his arrival however 



(c) Jo. Antonius Vulpius (in vita Sannazarii, ejus 
Operibus Patavii 1719, in 4to. impress, prcejixd) from whose 
narrative many of the notices concerning Sannazarius here 
given are deduced, in common with others of his learned 
countrymen, considers the Italian sonnet as very nearly allied 
to the Latin epigram (p. \>\.) 

(d) In the former edition of these memoirs it was erro- 
neously affirmed that the " Arcadia " was first published in 
1514. An edition however of this admired and well known 
production was printed at Milan so early as the year 1504. 
For this information I am indebted to Joseph Cooper Wal- 
ker, Esq. the author of an elegant and splendid work, en- 
titled " An Historical Memoir on Italian Tragedy." London, 
1799, in 4to. Heyne mentions also in his " Notizia de' 
Libri Ran," an edition of the Arcadia printed in Venczia, 
1504, in 4to. 



SANNAZARIUS. 373 

he had the mortification to be informed that 
his Carmosina had been cut off by a premature 
decease during his absence. She is the person 
whom he is understood to deplore in those of sannlzarii"ut 
his Italian and Latin poems, wherein he is su P ra - 
found lamenting the death of Phyllis. 

The increasing celebrity of Sannazarius as 
a scholar, and especially as a poet, having 
already attracted the notice of Ferdinand 
king of Naples, Frederic that monarch's 
younger son who was greatly attached to poe- 
sy, sent for and retained him near his own 
person ; and henceforward honoured him with 
his special patronage, confidence and friend- 
ship. The same talents of Sannazarius recom- 
mended him to the favour of king Ferdinand 
himself, and to that of Alfonso duke of Ca- 
labria, who was the next heir to the crown. 
Under the latter, who had the reputation of 
an able general, he served in the Etruscan 
war. He also attended him in an expedition 
for the recovery of Otranto, which had been 
seized and garrisoned by the Turks. After- 
wards, when Ferdinand had taken up arms in 
behalf of his son-in-law, Ercole duke of Fer- 
rara, against pope Sixtus and his allies, Al- 
fonso took with him Sannazarius to the sieges 
of Nomento and Tivoli. This general how- 
ever being overcome in an action near Indo- 
vina, seems to have lost on this occasion a 
portion of the fame which he had previously 
acquired. If the poet's own assertion is to 
be credited, he sedulously devoted all the 
leisure he could procure even in camps and 
military expeditions to poetical studies : and 
one of his most celebrated epigrams is that 
which he composed under such circumstances, 



supra. 



374f MEMOIRS OP 

in praise of the great actions of Ladislaus, a 
former king of Naples, who had been an espe- 
vuipius ut c i a i benefactor to his family, (e) 

The period immediately ensuing was preg- 
nant with the misfortunes and ultimate ruin 
of the house of Aragon. Charles VIII. of 
France, anxious to possess himself of the do- 
minion of all Italy, had levied a powerful 
army for the purpose of wresting from the 
hands of Ferdinand the Neapolitan sceptre ; 
but whilst this evil was yet pending, Ferdi- 
nand, now far advanced in years, died. Al- 
fonso, his successor, distrusting the fidelity 
of the Neapolitan nobles and commonalty, to 
whom his severity had rendered him odious, 
forgot his former military spirit, left all to 
fortune, and flying into Sicily, there soon 
afterwards ended his days. Ferdinand his son, 
whose manners were more mild and popular 
than those of his father, assumed the reins of 



(e) IN TUMULUM LADISLAI REGIS. 

Miraris niveis pendentia saxa columnis, 

Hospes, et hunc, acri qui sedet altus equo ? 
Quid si animos, roburque Ducis, praeclaraque nosses 

Pectora, et invictas dura per arma manus ! 
Hie Capitolims dejecit sedibus hostem: 

Bisque triumphata. victor ab urbe redit : 
Italiamque omnem bello concussit, et armis : 

Intulit Etrusco signa tremenda mari. 
Neve foret Lalio tantum diademate felix ; 

Ante suos vidit Gallica sceptra pedes. 
Quumque rebellantem pressisset pontibus Arnum, 

Mors vetuit sextam claudere Olympiadcm. 
I nunc, regna para, fastusque attolle superbos : 

Mors etiam magnos obruit atra Deos. 



(Epigrammat. Lib. i. ep. 4J 



SANNAZARIUS. 37$ 

government, and made all the opposition in 
his power to the Gallic forces'. When how- 
ever, in consequence of a contest so unequal, 
he saw himself despoiled of his hereditary 
kingdom, he still lost not his presence" of 
mind, but patiently awaited a more favorable 
opportunity of vindicating his rights. Charles 
happened soon afterwards opportunely to re- 
turn to France, and this young prince with 
great bravery, expedition and prudence, at- 
tacked and routed his enemies, and repossessed 
himself of his crown : but a premature decease 
overtook him in the midst of his exertions for 
the restoration of order in his distracted king- 
dom. 

The regal authority now devolved upon 
Frederic, the uncle of the deceased king. It 
might reasonably be expected that Sannaza- 
rius, who in the most adverse circumstances 
had evinced an unshaken loyalty to the house 
of Aragon ; would at this juncture have at- 
tained the highest honours ; but the fact was 
otherwise. Whilst those whose deserts were 
inferiour, were loaded with presents and lu- 
crative appointments, Sannazarius obtained 
only a moderate annual pension, and a subur- 
ban villa, situated on a declivity of the pro 
montory of Posilipo, and denominated Mer- 
gillina; which had been a favorite residence 
of former monarchs, rather for the amen icy 
of its situation and its fine marine prospect, 
than for the fruitfulness of its soil. Some 
writers affirm that Sannazarius inwardly cha- 
grined on this occasion intended to make the 
king sensible of his resentment by a Latin epi- 
gram, in which he complains " se agricolam a 



376 MEMOIRS OF 

vuipius ut re g e factum. "(/ ) Afterwards however, captivat- 
ed by the charming scenery of the place we find 
him thus expatiating in terms of the highest 
poetical eulogy on the king's liberality and 
the pleasantness of his beloved Mergillina, 
which became the delight and glory of his 
muse. 



AD VILLAM MERGILLINAM. 

Runs O sacrae pelagique custos, 
Villa ! Nympharum domus, et propinqua? 
Do rid os, regum decus una quondam 
Deliciaeque ; 

Nunc meis tantum requies Camcenis, 
Urbis invisas quoties querelas 
Et parum fidos popularis aura? 

Linquiraus aestus : 

Tu mihi solos nemorum recessus 
Das, et haerentes per opaca laurus 
Saxa, tu fontes, Aganippidumque 
Antra recludis. 

Nam simul tete repeto, tuasque 
Sedulus mecum veneror Napaeas, 



(/) AD FEDERICUM REGEM. 

Scribendi studium mihi tu, Federice, dedisti, 
Ingenium ad laudes dum trahis omne tuas. 

Ecce suburbanum rus, et nova praedia donas : 
Fecisti vatem, nunc iacis agricolam. 

(Epigrammat, Lib.i. epig. UJ 



SANNAZARIUS. 3J7 



Colle, Mergillina ! tuo repente 
Pegasis unda 

Effluit, de qua chorus ipse PhcebJ, 

Etchori Phcebus pater atque princeps 
Nititur plures mihi jam canenti 

Ducere rivos. 

Ergo tu nobis Helicon, et udae 
Phocidos saltus, hederisque opacum 
Thespi,e rupis nemus, et canoro 

VerticePiNDUS. 

I, puer ! blandi comitem laboris 
Affer e prima, citharam columna ; 
AfFer et flores : procul omnis a me 
Cura recedat. 

Principis nostri decus atque laudes 
Fama per latas spatiata terras 
Evehat, qua Sol oriens cadensque 

Frenaretorquet; 

Quaque non notos populos et urbes 
Damnat aeternis Helice pruinis 
Quaque ferventis cumulos arenas 

Dissipat Auster. 

Ille crescentes veneratus annos 
Vatis antiquum referentis ortum 
Stirpis, et clarum genus, et potentum 
Nomen avorura, 

Contulit larga numerosa dextra 
Dona, et ignavae stimulos juventas 
Addidit ; sylvas, et arnica Musis 

Otia praebens> 
3 c 



37S MEMOIRS OF 



TO HIS VILLA MERGILL1NA, 



High built upon the sacred steep, 
Queen of the rock, and azure deep, 
Villa 1 the green-hair'd nymph's retreat 
Belov'd — oft neighbouring Doris for thee leaves 
Her shelly grot beneath the waves : — 
Thou wert of kings the honour'd seat : 

Now to a humbler Lord consign'd, 
Thy solitudes a refuge kind 
To me afford, — and to the muse; — 
Oft as enamoured of a rural life, 

Of fickle crowds the wayward strife 
We leave, and folly's pageant shews, 

For hanging wajks, and darksome groves, 
Where sooth'd imagination roves, 
'Mid shelving rocks, with laurel crown'd ; 
Sequester'd caves, dark glades, and arched bowers ; 
Clear founts, with rich poetic powers 
Endu'd, and purest classic ground. 

To thee, impell'd by fond desire 
Whene'er my eager steps retire, 
Lov'd Mergillina — bending low, 
I venerate the Powers that haunt thy woods : — 
Straight, o'er the rocks in gushing floods 
Effus'd, — Pe g a s e a n waters flow. 

Then, in full choir, the harmonious nine, 
To aid my rapturous song combine ; 
Phoebus himself subiimest themes 



SANNAZARIUS. 379 



Inspires, and as its current full and strong 
The rill miraculous pours along, 
Strives to deduce a thousand streams. 

Be then our Helicon ! be thine 
As his prophetic springs, divine ; 
And let thy shady summits wave 
As those Parnassian regions far renown'd, 
Whose airy heights, with ivy crown'd, 
To song its rapturous impulse gave. 

Boy — from the nearest column bring 
The harmonious lyre, whose trembling string 
Vibrates accordant to my lay : — 
Haste, and my path bestrew with vernal flowers ; 
Let pleasure lead the circling hours, 
And grief and care be far away. 

His princely name, through regions round 
Fame, let thy echoing clarion sound, 
Whose praise my grateful song inspires— 
Where the bright sun, in orient state ascends 
Heaven's shining path, and where he bends 
In downward flight his setting fires ; 

To realms unknown, far northern shores, 
Where bleak, eternal winter hoars 
With endless frost his drear domains : 
To burning climes, swept by the sultry blast, 
Where borne impetuous o'er the waste, 
Torrents of sand obscure the plains. 

Dear to my lyre ! his pious care 
He gives the favour'd Muse to share ; 
And while the bard, in life's decline, 
Warbles — on themes illustrious still intent, 

3c2 







380 MEMOIRS OF 

His virtuous deeds — his high descent ; 
The honours of his ancient line ;— 



Such gifts — as royal bounty showers, 
With no reluctant hand he pours ; 
And deigns in youthful breasts to aid 
Sublime desire of literary praise:— 
To song dispensing liberal ease, 
Parnassian haunt, and sylvan shade. 

In this his charming* rural solitude how- 
ever, Sannazarius was not permitted to enjoy- 
any lasting repose. After the lapse of four 
years, Lewis, successor to Charles VIII. in 
the throne of France, and Ferdinand king of 
Spain, at the instigation of pope Alexander, 
formed a confederacy for the expulsion of 
Frederic from the throne of Naples, who hav- 
ing been finally overcome, and despoiled of 
his kingdom, chose rather to reside as a vo- 
luntary exile in the court of France, than to 
betake himself for protection to the Spanish 
monarch who had so basely violated the ties of 
y^ipius ut consangui ni ty. 

When Frederic deserted by the greater part 
of those who had flattered him in his prospe- 
rity was thus compelled to abandon his capital 
and kingdom, Sannazarius afforded a most 
laudable example of disinterested fidelity. He 
still followed the fortunes of his royal patron : 
he sold his possessions to afford a temporary 
suppty for the alleviation of the fallen mo- 
narch's exigences : he attended him into 
France, shared in all his dangers and fatigues, 
and continued firmly attached to him as long 
as he lived. We find him in one of his Latin 



supra. 



SANNAZARIUS. 331 

poems feelingly lamenting, at once his bene- 
factor's misfortunes, and his own : and claim- 
ing from posterity the credit which he de- 
served, for having thus faithfully discharged 
the obligations of gratitude and friendship. 



" Ipse per infestos tecum, Federice, labores 

Multa adii terra — multa pericla mari, 
Tuscorumque vadis, Ligurumque exercitus undis, 

Postremd litus Massiliense subi. 
Jam Rhodanum, Volcasque feros, Vocontiaque arva 

Legimus, et fines, Belgica terra, tuos. 
Bisque pruinosas cursu superavimus Alpes, 

Bis metas magni vidimus oceani. 

Prosit amicitiae, sanctum per ssecula nomen 
Servasse, et firmam regibus usque fidem," 

In the year 1503, Sannazarius again re- 
turned to his native city, and once more fre- 
quenting the court, obtained in particular the 
favour of the reigning queen. He now at- 
tached himself to Cassandra Marchesia, one 
of this queen's ladies of honour, who with 
great personal beauty seems to have united 
mental accomplishments and literary attain- 
ments beyond those which usually fall to the 
lot of her sex. (g) But Sannazarius was now 
too far advanced in years to feel as formerly 
the ardent desires and tumultuous perturba- 



(g) Sannazarius himself, inscribing to this lady an edi- 
tion of his Italian poems, terms her " delle belle eruditissima, 
delle erudite bellissima." (Ri?ne di M. Jacopo Sannazaro : 
In Venez. m.d.xcii.J 



supra 



382 MEMOIRS OF 

tions incident to a youthful passion. His 
present love was of a more philosophic kind, 
and Cassandra is considered merely as his 
poetical mistress, and the chaste object of his 
platonic attachment. However this might be; 
their esteem was mutual ; and a confidential 
intercourse continued to subsist between them 
till the poet's decease : nor does it appear that 
Cassandra ever formed any matrimonial con- 
vuipiusut nectioii 

The literary associates of Sannazarius were 
numerous, and consisted of such as were most 
celebrated for their talents and learning in 
this classic age. In bis friendships he is said 
to have been uniformly ardent and sincere. 
Of the memory of Pontanus, who had given a 
powerful impulse to his youthful studies, he 
testified his grateful remembrance by assisting 
in collecting his works after that scholar's 
decease, and arranging them for the press. 
He is commended for his probity, his love of 
justice and abhorrence of litigation. By some 
however he is numbered among the ardent and 
unreserved votaries of pleasure. He is said in 
his old age to have affected all the levity and 
gallantry of youth. The indisposition which 
terminated his life was brought on by grief and 
chagrin, on account of the demolition of part 
of his delightful villa of Mergillina, in deco- 
rating which he had taken peculiar delight. 
Philibert de Nassau, prince of Orange, and 
general of the Emperor's forces, was the au- 
thor of this outrage on taste and the muses. 
The injured poet, a few days before the ter- 
mination of his own life, being told, that 
prince had been slain in battle, was heard to 
utter the following extempore effusion : 



SANNAZARIUS. 383 

" La Vendetta d' Apollo, ha fatto Marte." 

He expired soon afterwards at Naples, and it 
is said in the house of Cassandra Marchesia, 
A. D. 1530, in the seventy-second year of his 
age. 

Vulpius relates that Sannazarius, on some 
particular occasion, was greatly struck by a : 

public discourse pronounced by iEgidius of 
Viterbo, an Augustine monk ; and what is 
more remarkable, by his ingenious application 
of some particular line of Virgil to the illus- 
tration of his religious argument. He is said 
thence to have conceived a lasting esteem for 
the sacred orator, and to have formed in con- 
sequence of this occurrence the first design of 
composing his celebrated poem " De Partu 
Virginis." The different portions of this vuipmsmvita 
poem, in the order in which they were writ- 
ten, Sannazarius constantly recited to his 
friend Franciscus Pudericus, a most fastidious 
critic, to please whose ear he is reported to 
have sometimes varied the same line in ten 
different ways. The poem " De Partu Virgi- 
nis" contains many brilliant and highly finish- 
ed passages. Sannazarius spent twenty years 
in retouching and finishing it : whence he was 
termed by some " statarius poeta." But not- 
withstanding the high compliments, paid no 
less to the piety, than to the learning and 
genius of the author in those honorary briefs 
which it procured him from two supreme pon- 
tiffs ; the agency of Dryads and Nereids, — 
the books of the Sybils, substituted for those 
of the prophets : Proteus predicting the mys- 
tery of the incarnation, and in a word, the 
care observed not to employ in it any agent, 



\ 



I. 



384 MEMOIRS OF 

or even name or term not strictly cla5sical, 
have given this poem an air of gentilism 
strangely inconsistent with its subject ; and 
in the opinion of some, rendered the motives 
of the author exceedingly questionable. Cri- 
_. t . . . tics however have not been wanting: who have 

Vulpius in vi- , . . o 

tasannazarii undertaken to vindicate the judgment or ban- 
apud finem. nazar i us upon this occasion, (h) 

Gravma, &c. r \ / 



(k) Prefixed to an edition of this poem, published by 
Aldus in 1528, we meet with the following dedication ad- 
dressed to Pope Clement VII. which is perhaps not less 
remarkable for ease and elegance of versification, than for 
the extravagant flattery which it contains. 



CLEMENTI SEPTIMO PONTIFICI MAXIMO ACTIUS 

SYNCERUS. 

Magne parens, custosque hominum, cui jusdatur uni 

Claudere coelestes et reserare fores, 
Occurrent si qua in nostris male firma libellis, 

Deleat errores aequa litura meos. 
Imperiis, Venerande, tuis submittimus illos ; 

Nam sine te, recta non licet ire via. — 
Ipse manu, sacrisque potens Podalyrius herbis 

Ulcera Pseonia. nostra levabis ope ; 
Quippe mihi toto nullus, te praeter, in orbe, 

Triste salutifera leniet arte malum. 
Rarus honos, summo se praeside posse tueri ; 

Rarior, a summo praeside posse legi. 

The briefs with which Sannazarius was honoured by 
Leo X. and Clement VII. may also be, found prefixed to the 
edition of this poem, published by Aldus in 8vo. 152S. 
The sincerity of that deference and respect which the poet 
professes for the holy see is as problematical as his religion. 
On consulting such editions of his poetical works as have 
not been curtailed, we find several of the supreme pontiffs 
made the subject of his severest sarcasm. It were difficult 
to say what offence could justify Sannazarius for the follow- 
ing flippant invective, against the family, assumed name, 



SANNAZARIUS. 385 

The elegies of Sannazarius breathe a de- 
licacy and tenderness which entitle them to 
rank with those of Tibullus. He thus expa- 
tiates on his own constancy and presumes on 
that of his mistress. 

— Si nostra tuo superesset funere vita, 

(Dii tamen in ventos omen abire sinant) 
Ipse ego composito venerarer membra sepulchro, 

Thura ferens moesta moestus et ipse manu, 
Umbrarumque sacer custos, tumulique sacerdos, 

Concinerem tremula tristia verba lyra : 
Nee me complexu quisquam divelleret urnae 

Quin cineri moriens oscula summa darem. 
At si, quod potius cupio, tibi fata dedissent 

Claudere formosa lumina nostra manu, 
Tunc mihi cum caros vultus spectare liceret : 

Atque anima tecum jam fugiente loqui: 



and personal peculiarities of Leo X. who had honoured his 
poem with the nattering notice before-mentioned. 

IN LEONEM X. PONT. MAX. 

Sumere maternis titulos cum posset ab Ursis, 

Cceculus hie noster, maluit esse Leo. 
Quid tibi cum magno commune est, Talpa ! Leone ? 

Non cadit in turpes nobilis ira feras. 
Ipse licet cupias animos simulare Leonis, 

Non Lupus hoc genitor— non sinit Ursa parens. 
Ergo aliud tibi prorsus habendum est Coecule, nomen^ , 

Nam cuncta ut possis, non potes esse Leo. 

(Epigr. Liti. ii. Ep. lvii.J 
The following is still more severe. 

IN LEONEM X. PONT. MAX. 

Sacra sub extrema si forte requiritis hora 
Cur Leo nonpotuit sumere, — vendiderat. 

3 D 



386 MEMOIRS OF 






Ipsa meos tumulo manes vesana vocares : 

Inque tuo legeres ossa perusta sinu : 
Flebilis et longos scindens ad busta capillos, 

Clamares nomen jam moritura meum : 
Tunc cineri, et mutae persolvens justa favillas : 

Misceres rutilis lilia cana rosis, 
Ulic moesta dies, illic consumere noctes 

Optares : nee te vinceret alter amor : 
Sed memor usque mei, canis veneranda capillis, 

Afferres tremula munera eara manu. 
O mihi dum tumulo tales reddantur honores : 

Tarn lentam Lachesis scindat avara colum : 
(i)Non ut nostra novos Arabum bibat urna liquores 

Ustus et Assyrio spiret odore cinis : 



(i) Dr. Johnson observes, that Pope had sought for 
images and sentiments from modern writers of Latin poetry. 
Perhaps he had an eye to this passage of Sannazarius, when 
he composed these lines of his epitaph on Gay : 



Not that here thy bust 



Is mix'd with heroes, or with kings thy dust, 
But that the virtuous," &c. 

The same critic has pointed out the more palpable imi- 
tation of Ludovicus Areostus, in Pope's epitaph on himself. 
( Life of Pope.) He has remarked after Goldsmith, that 
Parnell's "Bookworm" is the "Tinea" of Beza, and his 
" Gay Bacchus " the " Gratiarum Convivium " of Augurel- 
lus, with modern applications. Of Prior he says, "I have 
traced him among the French epigrammatists, and have been 
informed that he poached for prey among obscure authors." 
The reader will probably think with me that Prior's " Love 
disarmed," a poem which Vincent Bourne has translated into 
Latin verse, is itself in some parts little more than a trans- 
lation from the following lines of the " Epitaphium Amoris" 
Caesaris Ducchii, (Vid. Carm. Illustr. Poctar. Italor. v»I, iv. 
pag. 119. Florcnt. 1719, Svo.J 

— Dum blanditur, facilisque indulgct ut j<Egle 
Marmorea tangat noxia tela manu, 



SANNAZARIUS. 387 



Aut ut clara mei notescat fama sepulchri, 
Altaque marmoreus sydera tangat apex : 

Sed magis ut liceat longas audire querelas : 
Et gerere a lachrymis serta rigata tuis. 



Ilia animo versans, qua posset tuta triumphum 

Magnificum titulis addere fraude suis, 
Incautum aggreditur puerum, ac nil tale timentero, 

Et statim ex humeris abstulit arma dei. 
Mox arcum intorquens curvatum cominus illi, 

Tu qui nuper eras imperiosus Amor, 
Otia qui Divum toties hominumque revolvens 

Duxisti ante aras clara trophaea tuas : 
I modo, dixit, inops vivas, & sceptra perosus, 

Vincula & imperium disce subire meum. 
Et ssevo tenerum trajecit vulnere pectus, 

Vulnere quo tacti tot periere homines. 
Insolitum ardorem tunc ipsae hausere medulla?, 

Et fuit igne suo pulcher adustus Amor : 
Ignoransque locum cui se committere posset, 

Virginis in tenero delituit gremio : 
Et velut in tuta requievitconditus arce; 

Atque Dei reliquum nil nisi nomen erat, 
Hsec vero in miseros contorquens spicula amantes, 

Ilia Amor — ilia fuit maxima in orbe Dea, &c. 

The epigram of Sannazarius (Ep. Lib, i. ep. 43.J 

DE AUFIDIO. 

Dum caput Aufidio tractat chirurgus, et ipsum 

Altius exquirit, quo videat cerebrum, 
Ingemit Aufidius, quid me, chirurge, fatigas ? 

Cum subii rixam non habui cerebrum. 

Is evidently the original of the following which occurs in the 
volume entitled " Elegant Extracts/' in verse. 

A humorous fellow in a tavern late, 
Being drunk and valiant gets a broken pa(e ; 
The surgeon with his instruments and skill, 
Searches the skull deeper and deeper still : 
To feel his brains and try if they were sound i 
And as he keeps ado about the wound^ 
3 D % 



388 



MEMOIRS OF 

■ Should fate my widowed arms deprive 
Of thee their joy — of thee their constant care 
Reckless of vows that bid thee long survive, 
And form my fond affection's ardent praver : 



Td give my love the incense of a tear, 
In sadness bending o'er her honour'd urn, 

My pensive steps should ever linger near, 

My streaming eyes should ne'er forget to mourn. 



To sorrows, such as sever'd loves require, 
To solemn sounds — and dirges duly paid, 

My trembling hand should strike the mournful lyre, 
And plaintive accents soothe her hov'ring shade 

Till eager grasping in my fond embrace 
The marble where inurn'd her ashes lay, 

Its polish'd form my dying lips should press, 
And pass in sighs my latest breath away. 

But if, (nor kindest heaven the boon deny,) 
Thy gentle hand these dying eyes shall close, 

Thy care observant watch my spirit fly, 

And give my clay-cold limbs to soft repose — 

Then still, while fate permits, my fleeting shade 
Partial to her so lov'd, shall flutter near ; 

Gaze on her charms with rapture still survey'd, 
And breathe its parting whispers in her ear. 



The fellow cries, good surgeon spare your pains, 
"When I began this brawl I had no brains. 

Probably other unacknowledged obligations of the moderns 
to these authors heretofore little known, might occur to an 
attentive reader. 



SAXNAZARIUS. 389 



Thy griefs, thy plaints, thy frenzy's self shall please, 
While from those eyes fast flows the balmy tear: 

Thy pious care my manes to appease, 

And each kind act of thine be doubly dear. 

My scatter'd dust, collected from the pyrei 
And to its vase with pious rites consigned, 

The sad deposit shall thy arms require, 

With frantic cries that tremble on the wind. 

Thy lavish hand shall deck my rising tomb, 

And choicest wreaths, a grateful offering bring ; 

There shall the fragrant rose and lily bloom, 
Diffusing round the incense of the spring. 

And there, intent to w r aste the livelong hour, 
Thy sorrows shall bedew r my honour'd urn : 

Dead to each othes love's obtrusive power ; 
Sadness thy choice, thy pleasure still to mourn. 

— Oh envied lot, when love sincere as thine, 
Shall blunt the edge of fate's severe decree : 

Life's fickle joys, I'll pleasingly resign, 
And bless the pang that sets my spirit free : 

Not that around my pile, profusely shed 

Arabia's gums my ashes may inhale ; 
Nor rich perfumes their curling incense spread 

In cloudy odours, on the scented gale ; 

Not that, impervious to the shaft of time, 
My tomb its monumental front may raise, 

And towering from its sculptured base sublime, 
Give to the stars my wide extended praise : 



390 MEMOIRS OF 




But that in every breeze that flutters by, 

My exulting shade thy mournful voice may hear ; 

Catch the soft sound of every breathing sigh, 
And mark the lustre of each falling tear. 



The piscatory eclogues of Sannazarius, 

see also Har- if we may credit P. Jovius, contributed more 

ca^nqmrtf," t0 ^ establishment of his reputation than 

Pan iii. P . 473. any other of his poetical productions, not 

Lond. 1731, even exce pti n g that which cost him the labour 

of twenty years. Sannazarius boasts of being 

the first to attempt this species of eclogue, in 

which he has since been followed by Grotius 

and others : 

" Littoream ne despice Musam 
Quam tibi post silvas, post horrida lustra Lycaei, 
(Si quid id est) salsas deduxi (k) primus ad undas, 

Eclog.iv. j - Ausus inexperta tentare pericula cymba." 

I) rise duci. 

Indeed his Latin poems in general are written 
with great classical elegance and purity. His 
well known epigram " De mirabili urbe Ve- 
netiis," of six lines, is said to have procured 
him from the senate of Venice a reward of so 
many hundred gold crowns. (/) 



(Jc) Giacomo Sannazar che alle Camene 
Lasciar fa i monti, ed abitar le arene. 

(Ariost. Orland. Fvr. Canto, nit, J 

Graevius allows to Sannazarius the merit of inventing 
this species of eclogue ; and says, he assumed the surname 
of " Aclius" from the word " acta.'* (Notes to Sannaz. Lib. 
iii. Eel. 2. Jbnstel. 1689, 12mo.J 

(/) M. de la Monnoye (notes to Baillet, " Jugemcns des 
Savons," torn. i. p. 563 J expresses a doubt of the truth oi 



SANNAZARIUS. 391 

Viderat Hadriacis Venet am Neptunus in undis 

Stare urbem, et toto ponere jura mari: 
Nunc mihiTarpeias quantumvis Juppiter arces 

Objice, et ilia tui mcenia Martis ait: 
Si Pelago Tybrim praefers — urbem aspice utramque, 

III am homines dices — hanc posuisse deos. 

Several of the epigrams of Sannazarius are 
of the most caustic kind, particularly those 
which have relation to the vices or frailties of 
the successors of St. Peter. In that however 
which is addressed to their historian Platina, 
there is a happy playfulness which may justify 
the insertion of it. 

AD BARTHOLEMll'M PLATINAM. (w) 

Ingenia et mores, vitasque obitusque notasse 
Pontificum, argutae lex fuit historiae : 



this circumstance : " Ce qu'on dit du present dont Phonoja 
la Republique de Venise, semble n' etre fonde que sur la 
tradition. Je n'en trouve nulle preuve authentique dans la 
vie du Poete, quoiqu' ecrite asses au long par Jean Baptiste 
Cripso de Gallipoli. Tout le temoignage qu' il en rend est 
concu en ces termes i" " Mi afferma il Signore Aldo Ma- 
nucci (c'est Aide le jeune, fils de Paul) che la Republica di 
Venetia diede cento scudi al Sannazaro per ciascun verso 
delP Epigramma " Viderat Hadriacis, &c." 

(m) To Bartholem^us Platina the republic of 
letters is indebted for the lives of the Roman pontiffs : a 
work, says P. Jovius which recommends itself by an air of 
veracity and an unaffected and simple style, and throws 
considerable light on some of the darkest periods of history. 
Among other works of Platina are " Dialogi de Vero Bono ;" 
"Veraque Voluptate;" " De Optimo Cive," and 4f Libri 
de Honesta Voluptate." Poor and destitute, and without 
any other recommendation than those parts and that genius 
which nature had bestowed, he came from Cremona to 



392 MEMOIRS OF 



Tu taraen hinc lautas tractas pulmenta culinse : 
Hoc, Platina 1 est ipsospascere Pontifices, 



Each Pontiff's talents, morals, life and end, 
To scan severe, your earlier labours tend— 



Rome, in the pontificate of Calixtus III. where his talents 
as they developed themselves recommended him to prefer- 
ment. " Cognitum Pius II. et Bessarion erudito judicio 
sacerdotiis minoribus exornarunt." Paul II. made him the 
object of a malignant and cruel persecution. (See his own 
account of his sufferings in his life of that pontiff.) Pope 
Sixtus IV. appointed him superintendant of the Vatican 
library, an office which he retained till his death, which took 
place at an advanced age. 

" Quirinalem domum cum Laureto ad coronandos Poetas 
Pomponio relinquens" (says Jovius) " funus in Exquilias ad 
Marias majoris templum usque perductum est, flebili carmine 
celebrantibus poetis. " His scholar Demetrius is said to 
have composed for him the following epitaph : 

" Quisquis es (si pius) Platinam 
Et suos ne vexes : anguste 
Jacent,et soli volunt esse." 

Graevius (notes to Sannazarius, Epigr. Lib. i. Ep. 31. ) 
deems it strange that the author of the lives of the Roman 
pontiffs could condescend so far as to write a treatise on the 
culinary art (nam hujus argument}, says he, sunt libri ,c de 
Honesta Voluptate") and thinks him justly made the subject 
of the raillery of Sannazarius in the epigram here adduced. 

Menage however asserts upon the authority of a letter of 
Platina himself inserted amongst those of the cardinal of Pa- 
via, that Sannazarius by insinuating in the epigram above- 
cited, that the treatise " De Honesta Voluptate" was com- 
posed subsequently to the work " De Vitis Pontincum," 
became the author of an error into which his commentators by 
too implicit confidence have fallen : the treatise on the 
culinary art having in reality been composed before its au- 
thor's imprisonment and persecution by Paul II. whereas 
the historical work of Platina, as it appears from the epistle 
dedicatory, was undertaken in the pontificate and at the 
instance of Sixtus IV. the successor of Paul II. (Vide Me» 
nagiana : torn i. pag. 70. a Paris, 1729, in 12mo.J 



SANNAZARIUS. 393 

When late — on culinary themes you shine, 
Even pamper 'd Pontiffs praise the kind design. 

On the excellence of the Italian composi- 
tions of Sannazarius it would be superfluous to 
enlarge. He is confessedly one of the most 
polished and elegant writers of Tuscan poesy : 
and as Tiraboschi has justly observed, his poe- Storia del * a 

" • ■, ., ° -ill. Poesialtaliana 

tical renown was the more estimable because V oi. .*. P . i. 
participated by so few in his own age. Of all |? p !? b j?2jJ 
his vernacular productions none contributed thias." Londra, 
more to perpetuate his fame than the " Ar- 1803 > 8vo * 
cadi a," which even after the lapse of several 
centuries, continued to be read with undimi- 
nished admiration. The " Sestine" indeed, a 
species of verse in which continual changes 
are rung in every stanza upon the same termi- 
nating words, have to an ultramontane reader 
at least a singular appearance. There is some- 
thing in compositions of this kind too la- 
boured and artificial to be consistent with the 
unaffected ease and simplicity which should 
particularly distinguish pastoral poetry. Of 
these " Sestine " several specimens of which 
occur in the Arcadia, Sannazarius was not the 
inventor. They frequently present themselves 
among the poems of Petrarch ; whence they 
are sometimes termed " Sestine Petrarches- 
che : " though Bembus seems to refer the in- Le Prose del 
vention of them to the Provenzal writers. Bembo, Lib. 
That taste must be pronounced false and cor- "en?a, 70 i548°" 
rupt, which would estimate the beauty and in 4to. 
value of a work by the difficulty of its struc- 
ture. Sannazarius has however given to this 
complicated species of versification all the per- 
fection and grace of which it can be imagined 
susceptible. " L' eleganza clello stile" (says Spra,T!« 

3 E 



3<H MEMOIRS OF 

Tiraboschi, ) "la proprieta e la sceltezza dell' 
espressioni, le descrizioni, le immagini, gli 
afTetti, tutto e, si pud dire, nuovo e originale 
liell' Arcadia." 

The tomb of Sannazarius continues to be 
an interesting object of curiosity even to tra- 
vellers of modern times. Mabillon and Ger- 
main, two learned Benedictines of the seven- 
itaiicum, tom. teenth century, make mention of it to the 
iu P te 12,i p 4 r t0 ' following purport. This exquisite piece of 
1687. 'sculpture is to be seen at Posilipo in the 

villa Mergillina, which Sannazarius in his life 
time converted into a church, and dedicated 
to the virgin mother and S. Nazaro. Behind 
the high altar rises the mausoleum of the 
poet, formed of Parian marble, with a half- 
length likeness of him on the top, crowned 
with a wreath of laurel. Beneath stand on 
the right and left two marble statues of Mi- 
nerva and Apollo, while Satyrs are seen sport- 
ing in the middle. Posterity ashamed per- 
haps, as well they might, of such a profanation 
even of the holy altar, fondly imagined they 
could throw a veil over it by inscribing the 
base of Apollo's statue with the name of David, 
and Minerva's with that of Judith, but (add 
the good fathers,) " his coloribus non luditur 
Deus." On the lower part appears the well 
known epitaph by Bcrnbus : 



DA. SACRO. CINERI. FLORES. HIC. ILLF.. MARONI. 

SINCERUS. MUSA. FROXIMUS. UT. TUMULO. 
Vide Crescim- 
beni Delia Po- 

esia itaLri- Benedetto Menzini has also erected a poo 

t.j. Matnias, tical monument to the memory or Sannazarius, 
J 01 "] 1, Fo/S 11, in the design, of which he has indulged his 

Londr. 1803, , o . o 

8vo. own fancy. It consists or the following lines : 






SANNAZARIUS. 395 



Tomba del gran Sincero. Almi pastori 
Volgete a questa reverente il piede ; 
Raro si scorse, e raro oggi si vede 
Chi splenda altier di si sublime onori. 

Scolti nel marmo i mirti e i sacri allori 
Delia cetra Febea diconlo erede; 
E loro in mezzo, come Dea risiede 
Partenope che sparge e frondi e fiori. 

Mirate dall' un fianco in su Y arene 
Le reti, e lungi una barchetta appare ; 
Stan dall' altro sampogne e argute avene. 

Ninfe de' boschi, e voi dell onde chiare 
Qual mai vide pastor Roma od Atene, 
Ch' empia del nome suo la terra e '1 mare. 



Here Azzio's tomb its storied front displays : 
With reverence swains ! the deathless marble view 
To genius, that affects no common praise 
Here emulous sculpture rears the trophies due. 

For him who shar'd Apollo's tuneful powers, 
Myrtles and bays appropriate honours twine ; 
The midst Parthenope ! thy form divine 
Presiding, scatters ever-greens and flowers. 

Lo ! there the net extended on the sand : 
Apart the light bark stems the foamy spray : 
Thick waves in tuneful guise yon reedy strand. 

Nymphs of the woods — and ye of ocean, say 
Like him, of Greece or Latium's pastoral band 
Who bore in song your mutual palm away ? 



3e2 



396 



MEMOIRS OF 



CANZONE DI SANNAZZARO. 



Sperai gran tempo (e le mie Diveil sanno 
Che fur mia scorta a Y amoroso passo) 
Quel mio dir frale e basso 
Alzar cantando in piu lodato stile. 
Or m* e gia presso il quartodecim' anno 
De' miei martir', che'n questo viver, lasso, 
Mi ritien privo e casso 
Di liberta quel bel viso gentile ; 
Ne posso ancor lo 'ngegno oscuro e vile 
Dal visco ove a tutt' ore Amor lo 'ntrica, 
Per industria o fatica 
Liberar si, che alquanto si rileve. 
Onde la mente che di viver brama, 
Veggendo il tempo breve, 
Non ardisce sperar piu eterna fama. 

Qual pregio, lasso, il cieco mondo errante 
Vide mai tal, che questo agguagliar possa ? 

/ Lasciar la carne e Y ossa 
Sepolte in terra, e '1 nome alzarsi a volo ? 
O vigilie, o fatiche oneste e sante ! 
Rimarro io pur chiuso in poca fossa, 
Ne fia mai tolta o scossa 
Di tal paura Y alma, o di tal duolo ? 
Se le vostr* acque, o Muse, adoro e colo, 
Se i vostri boschi con piacer frequento : 
Se di voi sol contento, 
Dispregio quel che piu la turba estima : 
Non mi lasciate, prego, in preda a morte ; 
Che dal cantar mio prima 
Mi prometteste gia piu lieta sorte. 

Basti fin qui le pene e i duri affanni 
In tante carte, e le mie gravi some 
Aver mostrate : e come 



2 ! 



SANNAZARIUS. 3P7 



Amor i suoi seguaci al fin governa : 
Or mi vorrei levar con altri vanni 

Per potermi di lauro ornar le chiome, 

E con piu saldo nome 

Lassar di me qua giu memoria eterna : 

Ma il dolor che ne F anima s' interna, 

La confonde per forza, e volge altrove : 

Tal che con mille prove 

Far non poss'io che di se stessa pensi, 

Ne che ritorni al suo vero cammino ; 

Misera ! che fra i sensi 

Sommersa gia, non vede il suo destino. - 
Non vede il ciel, che con benigni aspetti, 

Per farla gloriosa ed immortale, 

Le avea dato con 1' ale 

Materia da potersi alzar di terra : 

Mostrando a nostra eta chiari e perfetti 

Animi a cui gia mai non calse o cale 

Se non di pregio eguale 

A lor virtu sempr' una in pace e 'n guerra. 

Lasso, chi mi tien qui, che non mi sferra ? 

Che avendo di parlar si largo campo, 

Del desir tutto avvampo, 

Sol per mostrar a chi m* incende e strugge, 

Che senza dir de gli occhj o del bel velo, 

O di lei che mi fugge, 

Si pud con altra gloria andare in cielo. 
Cosi quel che canto del gran Pelide, 

Del forte Ajace, e poi del saggio Ulisse, 

E quell' altro che scrisse 

U arme e gli affanni del figliuol d J Anchise, 

Piu chiari son di quei che 'I mondo vide 

Pianger di e notte 1' amorose risse : 

Che tal legge prescrisse 

Natura a chi ad Amor virtu sommise. 

Beati Spirti, a cui per fatto arrise 

Si lieto il ciel, che dal terreno manto 






398 MEMOIRS OF 












Con lor soave canto 

Si alzar' sopra quest' aere oscuro e fosco. 
Che se viver qua giu tanto m' aggrada 
Errando in questo bosco ; 
Che fia salir per la superna strada ! 
Benigno Apollo, ch' a quel sacro fronte 
Ch* inonda il felicissimo Elicona, 
La'vea tutt' or risuona 
La lira tua, ti stai soavemente ; 
Potro dir io con rime argute e pronte 
II bel principio altero, e la corona 
Vittrice onde Aragona 
Sparse F imperio suo per ogni gente ? 

diro sol di quello a chi il Ponente 
Parendo angusto, il braccio infin qui stese ? 
Ed a miir altre imprese 

Italia aggiunse ? ove con vivi esempi 
Lascio poi si famoso e degno erede, 
Ch* adorna i nostri tempi 
Con le rare virtu ch' in se possiede. 
Alma gentil, che tutte 1' altre vinci, 
(Se tanto a* versi miei prometter lice) 
II tuo nome felice 

Lete non sentra mai ne le mie carte ; 
Ne tacero, se pur fia ch' io cominci, 

1 bei rami ch' uscir' di tal radice ; 
U una e 1* altra Fenice 

Che per te spandon V ale in ogni parte : 
Questa, ch' Italia ornando col suo Marte, 
Guarda col becco il proprio e 1* altrui nido : 
Quella che con un grido 
Su la riva del Reno, e poi su 1' acque 
Di Nettunno disperse ogni altro augello : 
Che cosi al cielo piacque 
Per far piu il secol nostro adorno e bello. 
Indi s* avvien che al viver frale e manco 
Non lenti il corso il mio debile ingegno, 



SANNAZARIUS. 399 



Ma con vittoria al segno 

Pur giunga ; si com* io bramando spero ; 

Pria che dal fascio faticato e stanco 

Si parta, e lasse U suo corporeo regno ; 

(Benche frale ed indegno) 

Si sforzera eon stil grave e severo 

Sacrar cantando un altro spirto altero, 

Ch' oggi orna il mondo sol eon sua beltade ; 

Ma la futura etade 

Con gesti illustrera, per quantoor veggio ; 

Ai quali il ciel riserbe i giorni miei, 

Che 'I veda in alto seggio 

Carco tornar di spoglie e di trofei. 
Canzon, tu vedi ben che '1 gran desio 

Di si breve parlar non riman sazio ; 

Ove maggiore ispazio 

Alma vorrebbe piu tranquilla e lieta. 

Ma se pur fia ch* Amor non mi distempre, 

Vedrai col suo Poeta 

Napol bella levarsi, e viver sempre. 



Muses ! though long by you inspir'd, „ 

Of amorous themes alone I sing, 
The fond hope once this bosom fir'd 

To strike at length a loftier string- 
Yet years twice seven I pine in vain 
A martyr to my unpitied pain ; 
By her in adamantine fetters bound, 
From whose bright eyes my heart receivM its wound. 



The indignant slave of Beauty's power, 
In vain my aspiring genius, free 



400 MEMOIRS OF 



To more exalted heights would soaf ; 
And chaunt the strains of liberty : 
Alas ! for deathless praise I sigh, 
Yet swift the auspicious moments fly ; 
Nor longer hopes your captive bard to claim, 
While Love forbids, the immortal wreath of fame, 



O ! happy they — to whom 'tis given 

The invidious shaft of death to brave ; 
Who favoured of indulgent heaven, 

Can burst the barriers of the grave j 
Live in their sacred vigils, — spurn 
The mortal coil, — the silent urn ; 
And leaving earth and frailty far behind, 
Assert the illimitable powers of mind. 



Blest Nine ! if your dear founts, your bowers 

My fond steps haunt, — if still with you 
I joy to pass my innoxious hours, 

Nor aught the crowd esteems — pursue, 
O save your votary from the doom 
Oblivious, and the unhonour'd tomb; 
Confirm the pledge (unpractis'd to deceive) 
The auspicious pledge your early favour gave. 



Suffice it Love ! my abject strains 

Thus long thy proud caprice obey, 
And sing the tortures, griefs, and chains 

They prove, who cringe to Beauty's sway. 
Fain would my freed Muse upward spring, 
And soar on more adventurous wing, 
Win for this brow, of ever verdant bays 
The wreath, and live immortal in her lays. 



SANNAZARIUS. 401 



Yet, yet I feel thy maddening pain 

Inflame — and rankle at my heart,— 
Drive me, at passion's gust insane, 

Unmindful of each worthier part. 
In vain across my wilder'd way, 
Conviction throws her friendly ray, 
Reason in vain exerts her voice severe, 
And points my erring steps to Fame's career. 

Auspicious on my natal morn 

If Song's bright star its radiance shed, 
Bade me, with conscious vigonr — born 

For noblest flights — my pinions spread ; 
And emulous, reach with equal praise 
Your deeds, blest chiefs of modern days, 
Exalted spirits, whom no middle claim 
Contents, in war and peace your praise supreme ; 

What force alas ! what magic chain, 
When acts like yours my bosom fire, 

The Muse's struggling wings restrain ? 
Why but for her resounds my lyre, 

Whose charms resistless caus'd my pain ? 

Who wings her glances with disdain ; 

And whilst averse his amorous suit she flies, 

Defrauds the bard of glory's ardent prize. 

So he — Pelides' ire who sings, 

Brave Ajax — and Ulysses sage, 
Or who for thee, his rapt lyre strings, 

Troy's toilsome chief ! thro' every age 
Renown'd shall live ; when time consigns 
To dust the lover's nerveless lines 
Indignant : such the destiny he woos, 
Who prostitutes to Love the ingenuous Muse, 
3 F 



1 



402 MEMOIRS OF 

Blest bards ! who pour'd your dulcet notes, 

Impeded by no mists terrene, 
Where pure, yon liquid azure floats, 

O'er-arching high this shadowy scene : 
Oh !' if below the charms of song, 
These darksome bowers, these groves among, 
Can please — what bliss ! to trill the tuneful lay, 
Thro* heav'ns blue vault ; and cleave the ethereal way. 

Thou, to whose harp that favour'd hill 

Re-echoes — where thro' blissful bowers 
The Muse's fount its sparkling rill, 

Fraught with exuberant verdure, pours : 
Phoebus ! deign thou the lyre, the string, 
That high-born, sceptred race I'll sing, 
From Aragon begun — whose martial sway 
Pour'd o'er the nations its resistless way : 



Or Him whom ample realms possest 

Urg'd but to seek a wider reign : 
Who stretch'd his bold arm o'er the west, 

To grasp Italia's fair domain : 
Chief of emprize untold : — nor shine 
Less bright his glories Prince ! in thine, 
Heir of his fame — whose undiminish'd praise, 
Sheds equal lustre on our wond'ring days. 

Monarch rever'd ! thy praise shall soar, 

If aught aright the Muse divine, 
Lasting, beyond each chief's of yore, 

In some auspicious strains of mine: 
Nor shall my fond lyre sleep unstrung, 
E'er thy lov'd progeny be sung; 
On equal plume, lo ! each, a phoenix springs, 
And hov'ring, widely spreads his guardian wings. 






SANNAZARIUS. 403 



With threatening beak — this pois'd on high, 
His own and brother's nest defends : 

That uttering loud his fear-fraught cry, 
O'er Rhine's far shores his wing suspends ; 

And wide, athwart old Neptune's sway, 

Urges each direful bird of prey. 

Such are the gifts, by fav'ring heav'n supplied, 

At once our age's ornaments and pride. 



Hence, if on pinions weak and frail 

The Muse her arduous flight can steer, 
Nor of the bright goal drooping fail, 

That onward tempts her fond career : 
Ere weary of her pleasing toils, 
She yield to fate these mortal spoils ; 
However feeble, one delightful theme 
Her parting energies of song shall claim. 



Child of exalted hope, whose bloom 

Beams on our gaze a proud presage '. 
Whose deeds, if right the bard presume, 

Shall soon adorn a wond'ring age : 
Fain would I this frail life prolong, 
To consecrate with deathless song 
Thy loud acclaim — what time the trophied car 
Bears thee sublime amid the pomp of war. 

Too weak my song thy niggard flight, 

To reach the poet's vast desire, 
Yet, if some happier hour invite, 

Thou may'st on bolder wings aspire : 
Oh ! might this agitated breast 
From Love's perturbing conflict rest, 
Naples ! thy bard should seize the laureate crown, 
And thou eternal share his bright renown. 




MEMOIRS 

OF 

BEMBUS. 



TE Q.UOQUE PIERIOS FAMA EST POTASSE LIQUORES, 
ET VIDISSE DEAS QUIBUS EST CUSTODIA SACRI 
TONTIS, ET EUROT.fi CAMPOS, AC PHOCIDIS ARVA % 
IPSE UBI FRONDE SUA TIBI TEMPORA CINXIT APOLLO, 
DONA DEDIT, CITHARAM, NERVOS, ET EBURNEA 
PLECTRA. 

Baptista Mantuanus. 



x\mong the Italians who cultivated polite 
literature, and the muses, about the end of 
the fifteenth, and the commencement of the 
sixteenth centuries, Pietro Bembo holds a 
conspicuous place. He was born at Venice, 
A. D. 1470. His family was one of the most 
ancient and honourable of the republic, and 
among those in whom the patrician or sena- 
torial dignity was hereditary. 






406 MEMOIRS OF 

His father Bernardo, an accomplished scho- 
lar, and a distinguished statesman, (a) being 
sent by his countrymen on an embassy to Flo- 
rence, carried with him young Pietro, then 
only eight years of age ; with a view to im- 
prove him in the orthography and pronuncia- 
tion of the Italian language ; which was sup- 
posed to be there written and spoken in its 
greatest purity. It was on occasion of this 
embassy, that Politian addressed the following 
complimentary verses to the father of Pietro ; 
which are calculated to give us a high idea of 
his eloquence, and fitness for the character of 
Videfcoemata an ambassador, 

Polituni. 



(a) " Doctoratus laurea, equestri gradu, et senatorio 
ordine, insignis fuit. Plura scripsit, quamvis paucissima 
typis vulgata sint." fZeno.J The father of Pietro, main- 
tained a friendly intercourse with many illustrious and learned 
persons of the age ; and is honourably spoken of by various 
writers. Frequent mention of him occurs in the letters of 
Marsilius Ficinus, and that in the highest terms of commen- 
dation. He discharged many of the most honourable offices 
of the state, at home and abroad. Paulus Jovius informs us, 
that he had the merit of restoring and beautifying Dante's 
tomb at Ravenna, and of doing honour to his remains by a 
new epitaph. " Tumulum vetustate collabentem, Bernar- 
dus Bembus Petri Bembi Cardinalis Pater, in ea urbe prae- 
tor, opere caslato et concamerato additoque hoc epigram- 
mate luculenter exomavit." 

" Exigua tumuli Danthes ! hie sorte jacebas 

Squallenti nulli cognite pene situ, 
At nunc marmoreo subnixus conderis arcu, 

Omnibus et cultu splendidiore nites. 
Nimirum Bembus, Musis incensus Ethruscis 

Hoc tibi, quern imprimis hoe cjluere, dedit." 

Bernardo Bembo died A. D. 1518, in his eighty-sixth year. 
(See the notes of Jpost. Zeno to Caw's life of Bembus: alto 
the letters of Ficinus.) 






BEMfcUS. 407 



BERNARDO BEMBO, VENETO ORATOR!, 
VIRO UNDECUNQUE E LEGANT1SS IMO. 

Ut miseros quondam nautas, Acheloia Siren 

In posnam traxit carmine blandisono : 
Sic Bernarde, tuo quemvis succendis amore, 

Seu quid mente agitas, seu geris, aut loqueris. 
Si causam Veneti tutaris Bembe, senatus, 

Mox Pitho in labris stat veneranda tuis : 
Seria si tractas, credam tractare Minervam : 

Si joca, dat puros Gratia nuda sales. 
Carmina seu cantas, tibi Musae in pectore cantant J 

Sive taces, lacito ridet in ore lepos. 
Si graderis, placido non dura modestia vultu 

Est comes, et dulcis cum gravitate modus. 
Blandus honos vestem furtim componit, ovansque 

Te circum, plena ludit Amor pharetra : 
Fronte decor, sedet ore fides, in pectore candor, 

Inque tuis omnes sunt oculis veneres. 
Sic nos devincis, nee vinctos Bembe relaxas; 

Sic te quisquis adit, mox tua philtra bibit. 
Frustra ad te, florem C ylleni ferret Ulysses ; 

Sed pro te optasset linquere vel patriam. 



Hail matchless orator, whose tuneful tongue 
Can fascinate, as erst the Syren's song ; 
Whose bland address, and eloquence refin'd, 
Achieve each purpose of thy pregnant mind. 
Venetia's advocate, thy patriot zeal 
Pleads energetic, and ensures her weal. 
Now grave, thy subject wisdom's self sustains, 
Now chasten'd wit thy brilliant fancy reins. 
— Nor less, if versatile, thou sweep the lyre, 
Their favour'd poet all the Muses fire. 



I 



40S MEMOIRS OF 



- — Thine too, the silent qualities that please, 
The smile complacent, and the courtly ease, — 
The dignity that awes, but not alarms, 
And nameless grace that adds a thousand charms £ 
While hovering near thee on exulting wings, 
The Paphian pow'r his light artillery flings : 
Pleased with that manly front, that aspect kind, 
And tongue that indicates the ingenuous mind. 
— 'Tis thus, that Bembus every heart enchains ; 
*Tis thus his magic influence he retains. 
Vain were thy herbs, Cyllenius, to repel 
Charms such as these, — or counteract his spell. — 
For him, Ulysses too might wish to leave 
His realm belov'd, and stem the billowy wave. 

At this time, the Florentine republic was 
governed by the illustrious Lorenzo de' Medici : 
who merited the appellation of Magnificent, 
and was the patron of learning and the fine 
arts. His unbounded liberality, and avowed 
love of the sciences, had rendered his court 
the resort of the learned from every quarter ; 
so that young Bembus could not have been 
placed in a more advantageous school for the 
formation of his taste. 

Having one day accompanied his father on 
an excursion of pleasure, to a villa in the 
vicinity of Florence, his attention was strong- 
ly attracted by a milk-white steed, which 
happened to pass along the highway, richly 
caparisoned, and led by a groom : being in- 
tended as a present from a person of distinc- 
tion in Lombardy, to Lorenzo. Young Pie- 
tro, captivated by its singular beauty, could 
not help forming an ardent wish to be possessed 
of this fine animal. On their return to the 
city, the horse together with its rich furni- 






BEMBUS. 40$ 

ture f was to their great surprize, sent to the 
ambassador by Lorenzo ; with a request that 
he would accept of it for his son's use. 

The business of Bernardo's embassy being 
accomplished, and the two years allotted for 
his stay at Florence expired ; young Bembo 
returned home with his father, aud was placed 
under the tuition of Joannes Alexander Ur- 
ticius. He continued for a series of years to 
apply with great assiduity to his studies ; and 
especially to improve his acquaintance with 
the Latin tongue, by the perusal of the purest 
Roman authors. He had attained his eigh- 
teenth year, when his father being sent by 
the republic on a new embassy to Rome, to 
Pope Innocent VIII. ; confided to him among 
other domestic concerns of importance, the 
management of a suit in which he then hap- 
pened to be engaged. Pietro, in the course 
of his sedulous attendance at the courts of 
judicature on this occasion, was by a sudden 
provocation involved in an affray with Giusto 
Goro, a young person of rank, the nephew of 
his father's opponent ; and received a wound 
that had nearly occasioned the loss of the 
fore-finger of his right hand, the perfect use 
of which he is said never to have recovered, (b) 



(b) Beccatelli, who seems pleased with an opportunity 
of relating any thing that borders upon the marvellous, fur- 
ther adds : " It is remarkable, and I have heard Pietro 
himself declare, that his mother Madonna Helena, the same 
morning before he went out, had entreated him not to go to 
the Rialto, (where this rencontre happened) nor to have any 
conversation with Giusto Goro ; she having dreamed the pre- 
ceding night, that the latter had wounded him on the hand 
with a start a or sabre." " For heaven's sake, my son" (said she) 
" be upon your guard, my dreams are generally prophetic/* 
3 G 






410 MEMOIRS OF 

After his father's return to Venice, solici- 
tous to acquire a perfect knowledge of the 
Greek language, of which at this time Italy 
could boast few native professors of eminence, 
he resolved to undertake a voyage to Messina, 
in order to avail himself of the instructions of 
Constantinus Lascaris. (c) He set out on this 
expedition A. D. 1492, accompanied by Ag- 
nolo Gabrielli, a young Venetian of distinc- 
tion, his friend and fellow student. They 
directed their course to Naples, intending to 



" di gratia figliolo guardati, che non soglio sognare indarno." 
But this it seems was by no means the only event which this 
good matron had predicted. " Credo" (says Beccatelli) " go- 
vernata per la sua bonta da qualche Angelo benigno sicome 
ancho con la gratia di Dio havea generate un figliolo tanto 
eceellente." ( Vita di P. Bembo prefixed to vol. ii. degli Is- 
torici dellecose Venezianein 4to. Vcnez. 171 6.^ 

Bembus has himself given an account of this misadven- 
ture in a letter to Giuliano de' Medici. (Oper. Vol, iii. Lib, 
2. In Venez. 1729, fol. ) 

(c) Constantinus Lascaris was a Greek refugee 
of high birth, who amongst others, fled from his native coun- 
try when Constantinople was taken by *he Turks. He 
taught the Greek language with great celebrity, first at 
Milan, till the year 1463, or later; afterwards at Messina ; 
where he died towards the end of the same century. (Vide 
Hodium de Grcecis Ilhtstribus.) Bembus, in a letter to Ur- 
ticius, terms him " non modo Grsecum, sed etiam Byzan- 
tinum, quae quidem urbs sola" (says he) " ex universa Grae- 
cia, retinere probitatem illam Atticam antiqui sermonis, . . . 
plane dicitur." The Greek Grammar of Constant. Lascaris, 
with a Latin interpretation per Johan. Monachum Placenti- 
num, published Mediolani, in fol. 1480, " prima est graeco- 
latina praslorum foetura," says A post. Zeno. (Notes to 
Casa's Life of Bembo,) An edition of the same work pub- 
lished by Aldus, Venetiis, 1495, from a copy corrected by 
the author, and with which the printer was furnished by 
Bembo and Gabrielli, was the iirst essay of the Aldine 
press. 



BEMBUS. 411 

embark there for the place of their ultimate 
destination. Accordingly, writing afterwards 
to his father, he says, " Having met with a ?*™f ZT ' E 9 P ' 
small vessel Ave set sail, and on the tenth day p * 

arrived at Sicily, not a little sea-sick ; but 
our indisposition was soon dissipated by the 
humane attentions of Constantinus Lascaris, 
who received us with the kindest welcome, 
and those liberal assurances which his conduct 
already begins to realise. He instructs us 
with unwearied diligence, and a tenderness 
almost paternal. Nothing can be at once more 
benign and more dignified than the conduct 
of this truly venerable old man. We are ac- 
commodated in all respects agreeably to our 
wishes." 

Bembus continued in Sicily more than two 
years, and there composed a work in the Latin 
language, " De JEtnje incendiis : " (d) 
the first publication we are informed which 
issued from the Aldine press " in Uteris ro- 
tundis." M. Baillet concluding him to have 
been very young when he composed this work, 
has enumerated him among his " Enfans Ce- 
lebres ;" but Apostolus Zenus proves, that he Not. ad cas« 
was then in his twenty-fifth year. Of the work b!. tam 
in question, he is said to have disapproved in 
his maturer years. 

The compositions of Bembus, both in the 
Latin and Italian languages, soon began to 
extend his reputation, not only through the 



(d) " Petri Bembi de ^Etna ad Angelum Chabrielem 
liber." (Impress. Venetiis in cedibus Aldi Romani, mense 
Tebruario. Anno m.vd. in 4to.J It was written at Messina, 
and published the same year in which he returned. (Zenus.) 

3 G 2 






412 MEMOIRS OF 

different states of Italy, but also to distant 
countries. The public admiration was more 
especially excited by the circumstance of his 
excelling both in prose and poetical composi- 
tion : qualifications seldom found united in 
the same person. His father marked with 
- pleasure his promising talents and acquire- 
ments ; and began to express his desire that 
he should render them more actively servicea- 
ble to his country by accepting some public 
charge. But young Bembus felt little incli- 
nation to exchange the soft converse and se- 
cluded retreats of the muses, for the cabals of 
intrigue and the declamation of the forum. 
From motives however of pure obedience to 
paternal authority, he reluctantly came for- 
ward in public, and occasionally pleaded as an 
advocate with success and applause. But his 
expectation of obtaining a particular office in 
the republic being frustrated by the election 
of a rival candidate, much inferior to him 
in talents and merit, he retired from public 
scenes with increased aversion. His father he 
observed, had other sons, to whom a political 
career might not be disagreeable ; and who 
treading in the footsteps of their illustrious 
progenitors, might serve the republic as gene- 
rals or statesmen with credit and advantage. 
His ambition, not less honourable in itself, 
was of such a nature that it might be gratified 
without having recourse to humiliating sub- 
missions, against which his mind revolted ; 
and the rewards which he aimed at depended 
riot on the ill-judging caprice of the multitude 
in one state or city, but on the decision of 
the wise and intelligent of all nations ; nor had 
respect to the transient opinion of the present 
day, but to that of every succeeding age. 



BEMBUS. 413 

In the midst of this conflict between his 
own inclination, and the -respect due to the 
advice and solicitations of his friends, whilst 
Bembus was revolving this subject in his mind, 
we are told that he chanced to enter a certain 
church, at the instant when the officiating 
priest reading a portion of the evangelical 
history, pronounced these words, " Petre 
sequere me:" " Peter follow me. " Struck vit di P 
with this coincidence, which he considered as Bembo *>y 
a divine admonition specially intended for the 
resolution of his doubts : his biographer in- 
forms us, he no longer hesitated respecting 
the course of life which he should pursue. If 
we ought to credit this adventure, it will not 
be easy to reconcile Bembo's reasoning upon 
it, with the habit of thinking manifested in 
some of his earlier writings, which betray a 
levity, and indeed licentiousness, ill accord- 
ing with a religious turn of mind. But per- 
haps the human character is capable of com- 
bining the most remote extremes, and the 
same person may be at once dissipated and 
superstitious. 

After the lapse of a few years, which he 
spent partly at Venice and partly at Padua, in 
the prosecution of his studies ; Bernardo Bem- 
bo was appointed Vicedomino of Ferrara. (e) 
Pietro accompanied his father to that city ; 



(e) " Degnita instituta dappoi una vittoria navale, avuta 
in P6 da Viniziani contra i Duchi di Ferrara : nella quale 
per 1' altri leggi che fur loro da vincitori imposte, era che un 
gentiluomo Viniziano a vicenda dal Senato eletto, andasse a 
Ferrara, quasi compagno del Duca, a governar la citta." 
(Life o/Bembo prefixed to the edition of his works. In Vene?, 
1729, in 4 tom.fol.J 







414 MEMOIRS OF 

where he had an opportunity of attending the 
philosophical lectures of Nicolao Leoniceno. 
Here also he commenced a strict intimacy 
with Giacomo Sadoleto, and several other 
learned men. He acquired indeed the affec- 
tions of all the illustrious youth of Ferrara ; 
and particularly recommended himself to the 
esteem of the nobility ; of Ercole d' Este, the 
reigning duke ; Alfonso, his son and succes- 
sor ; and Lucrezia Borgia, the consort of Al- 
fonso. But amidst the splendours of a court, 
and the blandishments of festivity, Pietro still 
found leisure to pursue his studies. When 
about twenty-eight years of age he began his 
" Asolani : " (j) so intituled from its hav- 
ing been finished at Asolo ; a town of no in- 
considerable importance in the Venetian ter- 
ritory. This work, wherein the subject of 
love is treated of in a moral and philosophical 
point of view, was considered as a perfect 
model of style and composition ; and read with 
avidity throughout all Italy, by those of either 
sex who had any pretensions to taste or po- 
liteness, (g) 

After this honourable sojourn at Ferrara, 



(/) " Prodiit primum Venetiis, ex aedibus Aldi Romani, 
anno m.d.v. mense marlio : in 4-to. Saepius deinde editum/* 
(Zenus.J 

(g) <e Compose i suol Asolani; la qual opra da 

tutta Italia con molto desiderio fu veduta & letta; & da 
quella cominciorono i svegliati ingegni a considerare che 
cosa fusse regolatamente scrivere, e far rime veramente Tos- 
cane, che prima si facevano a caso, ne era per letterato &: 
gentile stimato chi detti libri Ietti non havesse." (Vita di 
Pietr. Bembo, scr. da Lod. Beccatelli Arcivescovo di Ragun ; 
%t supra. J 



BEMBUS. 415 

Pietro again returned with his father to Ve- 
nice ; where, and at Padua, he continued his 
literary lucubrations, inflamed with an ardent 
desire of improving his native language. At 
length, unwilling to continue burthensome to 
his father, whose means of supporting a splen- 
did establishment were not proportioned to his 
rank, he resolved to try the effect of a change 
of situation on his own fortunes ; and after 
some deliberation fixed upon the court of Ur- 
bino for that purpose. At this time, under 
the auspices of Guido-Ubaldo of Montefeltro, 
duke of Urbino, and especially of his accom- 
plished consort, the lady Helisabetta Gonzaga, 
that court had become the centre of genius, 
fashion and taste. (A) Here all distinguished, 



(A) It is in the court of Urbino that Baltassar Castig- 
lioni lays the scene of his conversations in his celebrated 
work, entitled " III Cortegiano," and Bembo is introduced 
as one of the speakers. This highly pleasing work, which it 
is said the Italians term " II libro d' oro," has been charac- 
terised as always new, always interesting and instructive; 
notwithstanding the changes which time makes in customs and 
manners. The work derives additional interest from this 
circumstance : that the speakers introduced in it, are actu- 
ally the same eminent and illustrious persons who frequented 
this court at the period we are speaking of. Accordingly, 
Apostolo Zeno enumerates them from Castiglioni's narrative, 
'.' Aderant nobiie Fregosiorum par, Federicus qui postea 
Salernitanus archiepiscopus ; ac Octavianus qui Genuensium 
dux creatus fuit : comes Ludovicus Canossa, mox Bajorensis 
episcopus : Bernardus Divitius a Bibiena, qui tituli sanctse 
Mariae in porticu Cardinalis est rennnciatus : Julianus Me- 
dices, cognomento Magnificus, Nemursii dux : comes Bal- 
thassar Castilionaeus, qui oblatum Abulensem in Hispania 
episcopatum recusavit : Caesar Gonzaga, Gaspar Pallavici- 
nus : alii multi de quib'us mentionem infert Castilionasus." 
&c. (Zeni in vit. Bemb. Not.) Castiglioni, who terms his 
work (II Cortegiano) "come un ritratto di pittura della 
Corte d'' Urbino/' himself frequented the same court, and 






416 MEMOIRS OF 



for any excellency, found not only an hospita- 
ble, but splendid welcome. So agreeable and 
attractive was the society at Urbina, that 
Bembus from the time of his introduction 
there, about the year 1506, was frequently to 
be found at this seat of polite and elegant fes- 
tivity. Nor was he less admired than any of 
the most dignified and accomplished strangers 
that visited Urbino. He is indeed said to 
have possessed in a high degree, all those per- 
sonal and mental accomplishments which tend 
to conciliate esteem. To a tall, manly, and 
elegantly formed person, he added an insinu- 
ating and engaging address, a captivating 
eloquence, and a genteel and polished easiness 
of manners, which never failed to make an 
impression in his favour. Here likewise Pietro 
continued at intervals to prosecute his studies 
with unabating alacrity ; the fruits of which 
were his "Rime," and various Latin com- 
positions, (i) He also occasionally visited the 



was sent as the ambassador of Guido-Ubaldo to Rome ; to the 
court of Louis XII. of France, and that of our own Henry VII. 
He died on his way to Spain on a like mission ; having been 
nominated by the emperor, bishop of Avila. The birth of 
this accomplished poet and scholar happened in 1478, in the 
duchy of Mantua; his death at Toledo, in 1529. 

Whilst resident at Urbino, Bembus received notice of 
the decease of his mother Helena, which happened Novem- 
ber, 1509. 

(i) He afterwards composed in the dialogue form his 
" De Guido Ubaldo Feretrio, deque Elisabetha Gonzagia, 
Urbini Ducibus Liber," printed Vcnetiis per Jo. Antunium 
ejusque fratres Sabios. aimo. 1530, in 4to. and Roma.-, 1547. 
It was translated into Italian, and enriched with a learned 
preface by Nicolaus Mazzius Cortonensis ; and printed 
Typis Laur. Torrentini, Florentia anno 1555, mi Svo. with 



BEMBUS. 417 

court of Rome, where the duchess zealously- 
endeavoured to promote his interests. In the 
last year of the pontificate of Julius II. he 
accompanied Giacomo Sadoleto and other per- 
sons of distinction, to that city; where among 
other literary services rendered by him to the 
pope, he decyphered an ancient manuscript 
written in abbreviated characters : (k) a task 
which others had in vain attempted. This 
pontifFappears to have recompensed his services 
by presenting him with some preferments of an. 
ecclesiastical nature. (/) 

In consequence of the decease of Julius II. 
Giovanni de' Medici, who afterwards assumed 
the name of Leo X. was elected to the vacant 
dignity, March 5 or 11, 1513. Leo, soon 
after his elevation to the pontificate, in- 
fluenced by the reputation of Bembo's talents 



the following title : " Vita dello Ulustrissimo Sig. Guido- 
baldo Duca d' Urbino, e dell' Uluslrissima Sig. Elizabetta 
Gonzaga sua consorte." 

(k) " Papa Giulio al quale di Dacia era stato mandato un 
libro scritto a note, ch' aleuno interpretare saputo non haveaj 
lo fece dare al Bembo . . . . M. Pietro quel libro espose et 
trovo la via d' intendere le note, che da gli antichi, et da 
Cicerone medesimo si dice che furono ritrovate per scrivere 
con poche righe assai." (Beccatelli.) 

(I) " Lo provide della commenda di Bologna." (Becca- 
telli,) " Ebbe da Giulio II. il Bembo la commenda de* 
cavalieri Gerosolimitani di Pola, 1' anno m.d.xiii. e pero 
allora e vesti Tabito di quella Religione. Leon X. gli con- 
feri primamente la commenda di Benevento ; e di poi lo fece 
Gran Priore d' Ungheria." See a note to the life of Bembo 
by Beccatelli, who however informs us, that he declined 
the acceptance of benefices with cure before his elevation to 
the cardinalship. 

3 H 



418 MEMOIRS 0£ 

and erudition, appointed him one of his secre- 
taries. He settled at Rome in this character 
at the age of forty- three ; and had for his col- 
league in office Giacomo Sadoleto, (m) with 
whom he had already formed a friendship at 
Ferrara. By these learned men the pope's 
correspondence was carried on in pure and 
classical Latin ; a thing hitherto unusual, 
says Casa, and perhaps deemed impracticable. 
Bembus soon rendered himself of great im- 
portance to Leo X. who convinced of his un- 
common abilities employed him in commis- 
sions of the highest trust. He admitted him 
to his intimate confidence, and enriched him 
• by his liberality. " Riconnobbe," (says Bec- 
catelli) " Papa Leone li suoi meriti accres- 
cendoli la entrata di beni ecclesiastici sino a 
tre millia fiorini d' oro." 

This pontiff, who was the second son of 
Lorenzo de' Medici, was created a cardinal by 
Innocent VIII. when very young. Leo was 
the pupil of Politian. («) He is allowed to 



(m) Sadoletus was created bishop of Carpentras, 
and afterwards cardinal, by Paul III. He is by all parties 
represented as a pious and enlightened character ; and was 
one of those who wrote the purest Latin in the sixteenth 
century. His "CuRTtus/' wherein he is allowed to have 
adorned a dignified subject with numbers equally chaste, 
spirited and harmonious, has entitled him to the character of 
an excellent poet. His prose works are various, and embrace 
a variety of subjects. 

(n) Among the epistles of Politian may be found a letter 
of thanks, written by him to Innocent VIII. for his appoint- 
ing Giovanni de* Medici, his pupil, to the cardinalship. In 
this letter he expatiates at considerable length and in terms of 
the highest commendation upon the good qualities and literary 
acquirements of young Giovanni, and the general joy and 
exultation occasioned at Florence, by his elevation to that 
high dignity. 



BEMBUS. 419 

have participated in the munificence and at- 
tachment to literature, for which the family 
of the Medici was eminently distinguished ; and 
with a taste exquisitely refined, united the 
greatest splendour and magnificence. But he 
was excessively addicted to pleasurable and 
luxurious gratifications ; and the court of 
Rome naturally falling in with the habits of 
its chief, is represented during his pontificate, 
as the seat of voluptuousness. 

It is at this time that the moral conduct 
of Bembo appears to have been most excep- 
tionable ; the deterioration of which some 
attribute to the contagious air of this dissolute 
city, (o) He formed a connection with a 



(0) Vivere qui cupitis sancte, discedite Roma; 

Omnia cum lice ant, non licet esse bonum. 

(Bapt. Mantuanus.) 

The author of the life of cardinal Bembo, prefixed to the 
complete edition of his works, published at Venice in 1729, 
in fol. turns apologist for him in the following extraordinary 
terms. 

" Fu Papa Leone come se' detto Principe d* animo molto 
grande e liberalissimo, e di natura molto ingenuo, e senza 
alcuna superstizione ed' ippocrisia. E perche stimava le 
cose secondo 1' essistenzia, e non secondo F apparenzia, 
viveva da s ignore grande ed allegro con tutti que piaceri 
che la natura non aborrisce, e fanno il principato commodo 
e dilettevole. E perche la corte, ed' il popolo, come dice 
Platone, va dietro a' costumi del principe, si viveva nella 
sua corte molto magnificaraente e molto liberamente, e sopra 
tutto senza ippocrisia, dove trovandosi M. Pietro Bembo, 
ed avendo accordato il suo gusto al gusto di quella corte, 
oltra che egli era di voglie molto graziose e molto facili ad 
amare non sara chi si maravigli se venutole vista una bella 
e vaga giovine che Moresina fu chiamata, di rare maniere e 
di leggiadri costumi, a lei rivolse Y animo e fattose la sua, 
tutto il tempo che ella visse con lei congiuntissimamente 
dimoro." 

3 H 2 



Bembi. 



4$0 MEMOIRS OF 

beautiful female, who was considered at once 
in the character of his mistress and his muse ; 
and three sons(jfr) and a daughter were the 
fruits of this amour, 
in vita p. Upon this part of Bembo's conduct, Casa 

•i • r i tti 

enters with manifest reluctance. He endea- 
vours to transfer the culpability from his friend 
to the indecorous laxity of manners common 
to the times ; and adds as an additional pal-: 
liative, that he was as yet " nullis sacris 
initiatus:" not in holy orders. In the biogra- 
phers of Bembo we plainly discern the partia-r 
lity of friends ; but by some of the earlier 
reformed writers he is censured with a severity 
that seems founded rather in prejudice than in 
truth. 

- Several circumstances are recorded by the 
latter, which reflect much on Bembo's cha- 
racter, and that of Leo X. his master, {q) 



Casa says this lady was very young when Bembus first 
became enamoured of her : " Ipso setatis flore, sexdecim 
annos nata, Bembum in sui amorem pellexit." She lived 
after this twenty-two years, and died A. D. 1535. 

(;;) The premature death of one of these sons who is 
called Lucilius Bembus, we find our poet lamenting in the 
following lines. 

O multum dilecte puer — qua? dura parenti 

For Luna invidit te superesse tuo. 
Quam producebam Iaetus, te sospitc, vitam, 

Erepto, pejormorte relicta mihi est. 

Another named Torquatii?, survived his father ; and 
to him the consolatory poem of Bonamici is addressed ; 
which indeed as a composition has little merit ; but serves to 
illustrate some of the leading events of Bembo's life. (Vide 
Carm. Illustr. Poet. Ital. torn, iij 

(</) The following is the bold language of an old Spanish 
writer with regard to Leo X. 



BEMBUS. 42 i 

While Leo, if these accounts are entitled to 
implicit credit, derived means for the support 
of his excesses and debaucheries by the open 
sale of indulgences, to the great disgrace of 
the Romish church, they united in ridiculing- 
the christian religion in their moments of fes- 
tivity, as a lucrative fable. By the same 
persons Bern bo is charged with carrying his 
aifected imitation of the style of Cicero to so 
ridiculous an extreme, as professedly to avoid 
the perusal of his bible and breviary, for fear 
of spoiling his latinity. (r) 



s< Fue un hombre atheista, que ni pens6 aver cielo, ni 
infierno despues desta vida: y assi se murio sin recebir los 
sacramentos. Sanazaro dize que no los pudo recebir porque 
los avia vendido." (See the epigram of Sannazarius here 
alluded to, page 385 of this work.) " Veese tambien clara- 
rnente suatheismo por la respuesta que dio al Cardenal Bem- 
bo, que le avia alegado cierto passo del Evangelio : ai qual 
dissolutamente respondio Leon estas palabras : " Todo el 
mundo sabe quanto provecho aya traydo a nosotros, y a 
neustra compania aquella fabula de Christo, &c." Dos Tra- 
datos : el prima es del Papa y de su autoridad: 4' e l segundo 
es de la Missa. 2d. ed. Svo. 1599. the preface to which is 
dated 1588, and subscribed C. D. V. i. e. Cipriano de Va- 
lera. This singular production is numbered by bibliographers 
amongst works of very rare occurrence. (Vide Diction. 
Bibliographique, lol. iii. p. 136.) An English translation of 
the " Dos Tratados, " was published at London, A. D. 
1600, in 4to. It is inscribed by the translator, John Gol- 
burne, to Sir Thomas Egerton, Knight, Lord keeper of the 
great seal of England, &c. &c. 

{r) Perhaps the following remark of so enquiring and 
judicious a writer as Dr. Jortin, may assist in redeeming the 
character of Bembus from some part of the obloquy thrown 
upon it. fl It is said of Bembus that he spake contemptu- 
ously of the epistles of St. Paul, and that he denied the doc- 
trine of a future state. But as these stories come not from 
the first hand, from any person who pretended to have heard 
him, we may consider them as false, or at least as very 






422 



MEMOIRS OF 



As to pope Leo X. (s) whatever might be 
his errors or vices, it must be acknowledged 



uncertain rumours. If religion had not, yet prudence and 
decency would probably have restrained this polite cardinal 
from talking at such a rate." (Life of Erasmus, vol, i. pag. 

(s) The coronation of Leo X. which took place thirty 
days after his election, was celebrated with a pomp and mag- 
nificence that had never been equalled on any similar occa- 
sion. The day of this ceremony was the anniversary of the 
unfortunate battle of Ravenna ; and the very horse on which 
Leo rode was the same upon which he was mounted when 
he was taken prisoner in that action. " Protectee erant 
aulaeis regiones" (says the historian) " ridebant januae civium 
festa fronde et floribus, fenestra stratae tapetibus ornaban- 
tur ; in omnibus biviis triumphales arcus occurrebant, ad 
veteris Romanae magnitudinis exemplum picturis et statuis 
mirum in modum exornati. Cardinalium et Antistilum co- 
mitatus, usque ad humiliora servitia serico et purpura, mul- 
toque item auro praefulgebant : ipsi Cardinales sacras aureas 
et pictas induti vestes, militaribus equis vehebantur/' (Pau- 
lus Jovius in vita Leonis X,) Never was solemnity so 
numerously and magnificently attended; never had Rome 
witnessed such a day of splendid festivity since the extinction 
of her ancient glory. Gold was thrown amongst the popuT 
lace with lavish prodigality ; and Leo is said to have ex- 
pended on this spectacle an hundred thousand gold crowns. 

Leo X. greatly augmented the library of the Vatican, 
and conferred the office of superintending this collection on 
the younger Beroaldus, a polite scholar, whose Latin verses 
of the lyric kind, if we may credit Jovius, possessed the 
elegance and correctness of Horace. Under the superin- 
tendance of learned men, who found an ample remuneration 
in the munificence of Leo, Rome beheld her schools and 
colleges rival those of Bologna and Padua in credit and num- 
ber of students. Augustus Suessanus was appointed public 
lecturer in philosophy ; Christophorus Aretinus in medi- 
cine ; Hieronymus Butigella in jurisprudence ; Parrhasius 
Cosentinus in humanity ; while Basilius Chalcondyles, the 
son of Demetrius, filled the chair of Greek professor with 
great reputation. That city soon teemed with artists, poets, 
and literati, of various countries and talents; who were at 
Jeast secure of a favourable reception, and frequently ob* 



BEMBUS. 423 

that learning and the arts found in him a dis- 
tinguished friend. In the age of Leo X. that 



tained from the liberality of the pontiff rewards beyond all 
proportion to their deserts. But as the exertions of indivi- 
duals to arrive at excellency are always analogous to the 
encouragement held out by the affluent and powerful, we 
need not wonder that under such a patron as Leo X. learn- 
ing and the arts were carried to a degree of perfection, 
beyond what they had hitherto attained since the revival of 
letters. 

The warlike temper of Julius II. and the characteristic 
anecdote of him, that one day leaving Rome on a military 
expedition, he threw the keys of St. Peter into the Tiber, 
chusing rather to make use of the sword than the thunders 
of the Vatican, are recorded in a few lines by an anonymous 
poet: 

Inde manu strietam vagina diripit ensem, 
Exclamansque truci talia voce refert ; 

" Hie gladius Pauli nos nunc defendet ab hoste, 
Quandoquidem clavis non juvat ista Petri." 

But the martial air and sternness of character which the 
Romans had affected under the administration of Julius, 
soon yielded under Leo, to the humanizing influences of 
literature, and the elegancies of polished refinement. Among 
other testimonies of the mingled gratitude and adulation of a 
prosperous people, a triumphal arch was erected on (he 
bridge of Hadrian, on which the following distich was 
inscribed, wherein the leading objects of Leo's pursuits 
are with classic delicacy contrasted with those of his pre- 
decessors : 

OLIM HABVIT CYPRIS SVA TEMPORA TEMPORA 
MAVORS 
OLIM HABVIT SVA NVNC TEMPORA PALLAS 

HABET. 

and on another triumphal arch in a different situation, the 
following lines appeared in conspicuous characters: 

VOTA DEVM LEO VT ABSOLVAS HOMINVMO.VE 
SECVNDES 
VIVE PIS VT SOUTVS VIVE DlV VT MERITVS. 







424- MEMOIRS OF 

of Augustus seemed to revive. He surpassed 
in munificence all the Roman pontiffs that 



In these times, so propitious to literature, says P. Jovius, 
every thing conspired to the prosperity of Rome. Every 
thing wore the semblance ' of wealth and gaiety. Plenty 
poured her blessings on the inhabitants in rich profusion, 
and the seasons were unwontedly salubrious and productive. 
It seemed, says he, as if under the auspices of Leo X. the 
golden age was again restored. But this, alas ! was a golden 
age divested of its innocency as well as its simplicity. 

When Giuliano de' Medici, the brother of Leo X. was 
agreeably to the general voice, presented with the freedom 
of the city, public shews and rejoicings were ordained ill 
honour of this event : and as a classic turn was uniformly 
given to the festivities of the times, a temporary theatre 
was erected near the capitol, and the Pasnulus of Plautus 
was successively exhibited . for two days to a numerous and 
brilliant assemblage, with the most splendid decorations ; 
verses were publicly recited ; and every individual strove by 
his personal splendour and gaiety to second the wishes of the 
pontiff; who in return for these expensive testimonies of 
respect on the part of the citizens, diminished the duty on 
salt, and granted them various privileges and immunities. 
Hence in token of the general gratitude, a marble statue was 
erected in the capitol to the honour of Leo, with this in- 
scription : " Optimi liberalissimique principis memoriae, 
S. P. Q. R." 

Leo was particularly attentive to the regular administra- 
tion of justice. He adopted wise and spirited measures to 
prevent the effects of those private feuds and family animo- 
sities, which often involved the unoffending in their baneful 
consequences: and the assurance of personal security was 
scarcely a less powerful consideration than the certainty of 
pecuniary advantage to induce strangers to settle at Rome. 
On a general . census held under his pontificate, the popula- 
tion of Rome amounted to 85000 persons. But a very short 
period made a surprizing change in this particular. At the 
time P. Jovius composed his life of Leo X. he asserts that .the 
number was by a recent census, found to be already reduced 
to 32000. 

The praise of munificence was that to which Leo most 
aspired. It was a maxim with him that those deserve not 
to be exalted to the rank of sovereigns who are unwilling to 
dispense the gifts of fortune with a liberal hand. Strangers 






BEMfcUS. 425 



had preceded him. To be a liberal patron of 
the sciences was his highest ambition ; and in 



and citizens indiscriminately shared his bounty : — the in- 
different artist, the half-learned scholar, and the brainsick, 
bard. Those who came to gaze at the splendour of his 
appearance in public, were frequently known to experience 
his unexpected generosity, when their mien or attire be- 
trayed indigence ; and he is said daily to have replenished 
with gold a particular purse which was appropriated to these 
casual acts of benevolence. 

While Leo with equal magnificence and profusion thus sup- 
ported the character of a sovereign prince, he was too prone 
to forget the gravity of the pontiff. He delighted in expos- 
ing to public ridicule those characteristic infirmities of some 
of his courtiers, which his own penetration easily discovered. 
For such a purpose he appointed his secretary Tarrasconi 
director of his concerts, an office for which he was totally 
unfit, while he had the vanity to think himself eminently 
qualified for it ; deferred in every question that respected 
music to his judgment, and suffered the wrists of his musi- 
cians to be bandaged on Tarrasconi's foolish suggestion, that 
they would thus touch their instruments with an additional 
elasticity, highly favourable to the general effect. He flat- 
tered Baraballi, an unfortunate old man of an honourable^ 
family of Gaieta, in the illusive fancy, that he was not only 
the first of poets, but absolutely another Petrarch. He 
encouraged him to aspire to the honour of a public corona- 
tion and triumph, in imitation of that bard. And at length, 
en an appointed day, amidst an immense concourse of spec- 
tators, among whom was Jovius, he caused the deluded 
poet, whose long white beard, and portly but venerable 
form gave an interest to his appearance, to be mounted on 
an elephant and conducted towards the capitol, attended 
with all the pomp, and decorated with the insignia of an 
ancient triumph ; himself alone among so many thousands, 
unconscious of the ridiculousness of his own situation. The 
elephant terrified with the sound of musical instruments, and 
the glare of his own magnificent trappings, could not, we 
are told, be conducted beyond the bridge of Hadrian ; and 
Varillas informs us, the indignant brute manifested his re- 
sentment in a way that had nearly proved fatal to the poet 
and many of his attendants. The particulars of this adven- 
ture were afterwards expressed in carved work, on the doors 
of one of the apartments of the papal palace, 
3 I 



\ 




426 MEMOIRS OF 

this respect he zealously followed the example 
of Lorenzo his father. He invited to his court 



But these were venial aberrations from decorum in com- 
parison with those excesses which Leo's example sanctioned, 
or at which his indifference connived. The few who amidst 
this more than syren fascination, still retained any sense of 
decency, were constrained to blush on beholding ecclesiastics 
mingling without reserve, in every species of pleasurable 
dissipation. The younger cardinals especially, many of 
whom were junior branches of royal or illustrious houses, 
exulted in the free participation of indulgences to which the 
most sacred characters were no restraint. Rome frequently 
saw her court, with a multitude of attendants and an im- 
mense apparatus, accompany the supreme pontiff to partake 
of the sports of the field. Under the direction of the inge- 
nious cardinal Bibiena, whose versatile talents appeared to 
equal advantage on serious, festive, or ludicrous occasions, 
the spacious apartments of the Vatican were metamorphosed 
into theatres. The pontifical tables teemed with luxurious 
viands that realized the refinements of Apicius; and parti- 
cular seasons afforded a sanction to the freedoms and buf- 
fooneries of the ancient Saturnalia. Jovius acknowledges 
that Hadrian, a man of frugal character, could not examine 
without shuddering, the particulars of those enormous dis- 
bursements which marked the domestic establishment of his 
predecessor. 

As things opposite in their natures often appear to more 
advantage by being contrasted with each other, the preceding 
sketch of the pontificate of Leo X. may perhaps acquire 
additional interest from a comparison with the following ; in 
which an attempt is made to delineate the most prominent 
features of his successor's character and administration. 

In the conclave for the choice of a proper person to fill 
the chair of St. Peter when vacant by the decease of Leo X. 
great and long protracted discussions prevailed. The younger 
cardinals were strenuous for the election of Giulio de' Me- 
dici, whose wealth and influence placed him at their head. 
The seniors were bent upon the advancement of some one 
of their own body, and each secretly desired that the tiara 
might grace his own brow. To such lengths were their 
animosities carried, that they mutually assailed each other's 
characters with the grossest ribaldry, and the most defama- 
tory pasquinades, to the great diversion of the inhabitants of 
Rome; but, as Faulus Jovius adds, much tq. the diminution 



BEMBUS. 427 

from all parts those who were remarkable for 
their literary attainments, or skill in any art. 



of that reverence in which the sacred college in particular, 
and the sacerdotal order in general had been previously held. 
At length when the seniors on a certain occasion accused 
their younger brethren of losing sight of that zeal tor the 
advancement of religion, which ought solely to influence 
their choice ; and the latter warmly retorted the charge ; — 
Giulio de' Medici suddenly proposed the absent and un- 
ambitious Cardinalis Derthunensis, on the ground 
of his piety and sanctity of life. The seniors, taken by sur- 
prize, and wholly occupied by the various passions which 
agitated them, inconsiderately acceded to the proposal ; and 
Hadrian was elected pontiff: 

-i Votis Hadrianus omnium 

Fit Pontifex, sed omnibus 
(Quis credat ?) invitis. 
(Joan. Pierius Vakrianus Hadrian, Pont. Max. designato.) 

Hadrian was deeply versed in the writings of the schoolmen, 
and was deemed one of the profoundest theologians, meta- 
physicians, civilians and canonists of his time. When Her- 
molaus Barbarus going on an embassy to the Emperor Frc 
derick, and his son Maximilian, paid a visit to the university 
of Lorrain, Hadrian was singled out from among all the 
students to respond to him on philosophical subjects; and 
acquitted himself greatly to the admiration and praise of the 
Italian scholar. (Moringi vita Hadriani.) 

He seems to have merited the character of undissembled 
piety and integrity, and was one of those few pontiffs who 
entertained a sincere wish to reform the abuses of the church 
of Rome. These qualities, together with his great frugality, 
his marked aversion to pomp and splendour, and his aboli- 
tion of idle offices and sinecures, were sufficient to make 
him odious to the Italians ; and rendered his reign a remarks 
able contrast to that of Leo X. In his time moreover Rome 
was depopulated by a pestilence; and the external affairs 
of the church wore an aspect as adverse as in the days of 
Leo X. it had been flourishing and propitious. He found 
an exhausted treasury, and a revenue scarcely equal to the 
discharge of those debts for which it stood pledged. Hence 
he was obliged to adopt means of recruiting the finances of 
the church which were most unpopular. Those who had 
3 I 2 ' 






428 MEMOIRS OF 



Nor did he suffer persons whose talents were 
not of the first order to remain destitute of 






expended their patrimony in the purchase of lucrative offices, 
finding their profits cut off or abridged, complained heavily 
of this breach, as they termed it, of public faith ; and the 
rage of one of these persons thus aggrieved, arose to such a 
height, that the terrified Hadrian narrowly escaped assassi- 
nation by his hand. Hence, says Jovius, he found the 
saying of an ancient writer verified : " Multum referre 

AD FELICIOREM FORTUNAM AD QU.E TEMPORA ALI- 
CUJUS VEL PRiECLARA VIRTUS INCIDISSET." 

Hadrian finding himself an entire stranger to the transac- 
tions of the pontifical court, and at the same time scrupu- 
lously desirous of acting aright, acquired an appearance of 
hesitation and indecision in the dispatch of public business. 
Hieronymus Balbus sent on an embassy to stimulate the 
pontiff's speedy exertions against those two formidable 
enemies the Lutherans and the Turks, dared thus to re- 
proach the pontiff in full senate: " Fabius Maximus, Sanc- 
tissime Pater, rem Romanam cunctando restituit. Tu vero 
pariter cunctando rem Romanam simulque Europam perdere 
contendis." 

For polite letters and the fine arts Hadrian appears to 
have been devoid of all taste. He disliked poets, as sus- 
pecting them to be more studious of conforming their pro- 
ductions to ancient precedents and gentile theology than was 
consistent with the profession of Christianity. On Paulus 
Jovius he conferred a benefice, expressly because with the 
office of an annalist, and the study of polite letters, he did 
not combine, like too many others, the reputation of a 
poet: " ita ut aliquando plus mihi profuerit" (says Jovius) 
" non attigisse poeticam, quam in caeteris gravioribus studiis 
perpetuo multorum annorum labore desudasse." (Vita Ha- 
driani VI.) 

Burman in his " Analecta Historica de Hadriano VI." 
pr. Trajccti ad Rhen. 1727, in 4to. has collected whatever 
documents he could find for the illustration of this pontiff's 
life. But the " Lettere de' Principi," published in Vcnezia, 
J 581, el aliis annis, in 3 vols. 4to. afford us some curious 
particulars concerning Hadrian which have been overlooked 
by Burman. Giralomo Negro, in his letters to Messer Marc- 
Antonio Micheli, is the sprightly writer who furnishes these 
notices. By him we find the following anecdote of Hadrian 
related, which is confirmed bv others. He had given to a 



BEMBUS. 429 

encouragement ; such was the pleasure he 
took in rewarding even a desire to excel. His 



nephew of his a benefice with a revenue of seventy due at i. 
Another falling vacant, for which his nephew also made 
application; he received from the pontiff a severe rebuff": 
who alleged, that the benefice of seventy ducati was amply 
sufficient for his maintenance : but induced by many in- 
treaties to confer upon him that of one hundred, he first 
obliged him to resign the other. " Dio lo conservr" (adds 
Girolamo Negro) '• in questo buon proposito, et li dia forza 
di essequirlo. Ma dubito, che, come beva di questo fiume 
Leteo, non mandi in oblivione tutti questi santi pensieri, et 
massimamente, perche natura non tolerat repentinas mutatio- 
nes ; essendo laCorte piu corrotta, che fosse mai, non vi vedo 
alcuna dispositione atta a ricever cosi tosto queste buone 
intentioni. Sed ipsi viderint." This letter was written be- 
fore Hadrian's arrival at Rome. (Vide Lettere di Principi, 
p. 98 J 

The same writer gives an account of the arrival and 
reception of Hadrian at Rome ; of his coronation, &c. 
Coming afterwards to his private character, he very cau- 
tiously observes, that appearances are not to be trusted, 
" perche in animis hominum multi sunt recessus, multa? late- 
bras, ut praeclare noster Cicero admonet, et massimamente in 
questi Preti, i quali patiuntur metamorphosim, che spesso 
di pastori divengono lupi. U esempio" (he adds) " e in 
pronto di Papa Leone, il quale entro nel pontificato con 
nome di cosi benigno, e usci poi con la fama di si fiero/' 

After other matter, " this pontiff," (says he) " has but 
two chamberlains, both Flemings ; " huomini stupidi e mar- 
morei" and a very small household. He is regardless of 
servants and equipage, and when urged by certain cardinals 
to assume a little more splendour in this particular, declared 
he at present could not ; being desirous first to liquidate the 
debts of the church ; but that he would afterwards turn his 
attention to other matters. The other day, says he, the 
equerries of Leo deputed to him one of their order, who 
might address him in behalf of the rest. The pope enquired 
what was their number in the time of Leo X. We were 
then, said the man, more than a hundred. On hearing of 
ro many, the holy father (say they) crossed himself, and 
replied, he thought four amply sufficient : but he would 
keep twelve, in order to exceed the number kept by the 
cardinals, since etiquette required him to do this. In fine, 












430 MEMOIRS OF 

occasional sale of offices, honours, dignities 
and the like, was the consequence of pecu- 



adds this writer, " commune opinione e, die cestui debbia 
essere buon cassiere della Chiesa; di che veramente ce n'e 
bisognd per la prodigalita di Leone/' (p. 10S.J 

At one time reading certain Latin letters composed with 
great elegance, he exclaimed, *' Sunt literae unius poetae," 
by way of ridiculing the eloquence displayed in them. 
When in the Belvidere several monuments of antiquity, and 
especially the celebrated statue of Laocoon were shewn 
him, he observed, " Sunt idola Antiquorum." So that, adds 
this writer, it is not a little to be apprehended that he will 
one day do the same thing which San. Gregorio is said to 
have done : and perhaps of these fine statues, the striking 
memorials of Rome's former greatness and glory, he will 
order a cement to be made for the building of St. Peter's. 
Aware of the small encouragement to be expected from this 
stern pontiff, so little the friend of the graces and the muses, 
Sadoleto, Bembo, Vida, and others who signalized them- 
selves as the cultivators of polite literature, willingly fled 
the court, and buried themselves in voluntary retirement 
and seclusion. The first mentioned of these scholars asked 
and obtained leave to retire to his diocese of Carpentras. 
" All Rome" (says Girolamo) " wonders that his Holiness 
would permit his departure. I wonder not at it, since the 
pope knows him not, nor can appreciate him. " Roma " 
(he adds) " non e piu Roma. Usciti d' una peste, siamo 
entrati in una maggiore. Questo Pontefice non conosce 
nessuno : non si vede una gratia. Omnia sunt plenissima 
desperationis, senza che questo stato sta sopra una punta 
d'ago per molte cause ; et Dio voglia, che presto non fuggiamo 
in Avignone a turbar la quiete, & gli studj del Vescovo di 
Carpentras che sara li vicino, overo ad ultimum oceanum, 
alia patria del Papa. &c." (p. II 3. J 

In another letter Girolamo Negro informs his friend, that 
the whole court is greatly dissatisfied with the rigorous dis- 
position of the prince, who is very parsimonious of his fa- 
vours ; whether this proceeds from his little experience and 
his distrust of the merits of those about him, or from con- 
scientious scruples, and the fear of acting erroneously. But 
whatever might be the justness of his reasons, these avail 
not, he adds, to satisfy " la Corte male avezza." He sub- 
joins this striking expression which proceeding from the pen of 
an Italian, certainly deserves to be considered as a conces* 



I 



BEMBUS. 431 

niary embarrassments arising from his profuse 
liberality, the public buildings which he erected 



sion to truth, and a counterbalance to whole pages of scandal 
lavished upon him by the licentious pens of corrupt and 
disingenuous writers. <f The same thing may be said of 
him which Cicero said of Cato : " Hie dicit tanquam 
in Platonis politia, non in Romuli fece sen- 
ten ti am." (p. 114.J 

At the conclusion of the same letter, he observes, that 
Pasquin is much out of temper, because the pope has declared 
he will not permit him to have " la sua fesla di San Marco," 
and gives it to be understood, that if he detects any one 
speaking ill of himself or of any other person, he will have 
him severely punished, p, 115. Hadrian, says P. Jovius, 
not a little irritated against the licentious poets, had resolved 
that the statue of Pasquin should be demolished and thrown 
into the Tyber. Ludovicus Suessanus, ambassador of 
Charles V. a person of courtly manners, and a ready wit, 
opposed this measure; alleging that Pasquin would not even 
then be quiet, but like the frogs would be heard to croak 
even out of the mud. " Then" (said the pontiff) " let him 
be burnt to ashes, that no trace or vestige of him may re- 
main." " Holy Father," (replied Suessanus) " the family of 
poets would not fail to revenge the cruel execution of their 
favourite bard and patron, by defamatory songs ; and every 
year, at a stated time, would by way of retaliation, meet in 
crouds to commemorate the place and manner of his punish- 
ment." By these jocose arguments he succeeded in alle- 
viating the resentment of the pontiff, and restoring him to 
good humour. (Vita Hadr. p. 134.J 

Hadrian, as before observed, was utterly averse to that 
pomp and shew which were always so agreeable to the Ita- 
lians. He seldom appeared in public, and generally buried 
himself in silence in the innermost apartments of the Vati- 
can; which in the language of one of his calumniators, was 
then no longer " Domus ilia pontificia, et ocellus urbis ut 
quondam, sed domus aliqua ut Poetae tradunt, quae prop- 
ter lemurum formidinem vacua et deserta prae solitudine 
videbatur." Girolamo Negro speaking of this pontiff's ac- 
cidental appearance on a certain occasion abroad on horse- 
back, observes, " Cavalca senza pompa, et senza far motto a* 
Cardinali, i quali spesso, intendendo il Papa essere cavalcato, 
gli corrono dietro in quella guisa, che fanno i servitori a* loro 
Cardinali." The reign of this pontiff continued only twenty 




432 



MEMOIRS OF 



or beautified ; and lastly, the wars in whicri 
° n * up p r[ ™ in policy sometimes prompted him to engage. 
Uon. x.' The letters which Bembus wrote in the 

Latin language in the name of Leo X. may 
be found arranged in twelve books, and pub- 
lished with the rest of his epistles. Among 
other commissions of importance in which he 
was engaged, he undertook at the pope's in- 
stance an embassy to Venice, for the purpose 
of detaching his countrymen from their alli- 
ance with the king of France, and engaging 
them to take a part in the coalition formed 
against that monarch by the emperor, the 
king of Spain, and the Roman pontiff. While 
he resided at Rome, he had a peculiar oppor- 



1 



months. He had just published with great solemnity the 
league of the combined christian powers against the Turks, 
when an indisposition under which he then laboured, as- 
sumed more dangerous symptoms, and speedily became 
fetal. He died, not without suspicion of having been poi- 
soned ; and some persons had the audacity when the news of 
his decease was spread abroad, to affix, during the night, a 
tablet on the door of his confidential physician's residence, 
with these words in capital letters, 

LIBERATORI PATRIAE S. P. Q. R. 

Over the place of his sepulture in the church of St. Peter, 
a temporary monument was placed, with this inscription : 

HADRIANUS SEXTUS HIC SITUS EST 
QUI NIHIL SIBI INFELICIUS IN VITA DUXIT 
QUAM QUOD IMPERARET. 

But a more splendid monument was afterwards erected 
to his memory, by the gratitude of cardinal Gulielmus Er- 
chabordius, whom he had advanced, on his death-bed, to this 
dignity; " in templo Deiparas Virginis Germanorum ad 
Arcum Flaminium :" an elegant engraving of which may be 
found apud Bunnanni Analccla Histor. de Hadriano VI, su- 
pradict. 



BEMBUS. 433 

tunity of indulging his taste for antiquities : 
and he is ranked among the most scientific 
collectors of statues, medals, and other ancient 
and classical remains, (t) Besides other lite- 
rary curiosities that enriched his museum, 
particular mention is made of two beautiful 
and finely ornamented manuscripts of Virgil 
and Terence, which were supposed to have 
survived the ravages of time upwards of a 
thousand years ; and of an autograph of the 
Italian poems of Petrarch, by which Aldus 
corrected the edition of them published by 
him in 1501. That printer, who lay under 
various other literary obligations to Bembus, 
in his preface to the edition of Pindar, pub- 
lished anno 1,513, terms him " Decus erudi- 
torum astatis nostras, et magna? spes altera 
Romas." 

The celebrated Erasmus who was for some 
time the guest of Aldus at Venice, and a 
sharer in his literary labours, has afforded the 
admirers of typographical antiquities some ., 

■ C 4.' *-' *l A Vide"Adagia 

curious information respecting the Anchor Erasmi, inl- 
and Dolphin, the well known symbol or da s io " F esti - 

r ^i 1 • - a i i i • nalente." 

imprese of that eminent printer. Aldus him- 
self shewed him a silver medal of Titus Ves- 
pasian bearing evident marks of age and au- 
thenticity : on the obverse of which was the 
head of Titus, with the usual legend : on the 
reverse, an anchor encompassed by a dolphin. 
This medal was, he adds, presented to Aldus, 



(t) " Eodem studio quoque bibliothecam sibi omnium 
generum omniumque linguarum codicibus, turn typis turn 
calamo descriptis, instructissimam Bembus paraverat, quo- 
rum non pauci in Vaticanam Bibliothecam ex Urbinate sunt 
translati." (Zeno.J 

S K 



434 



MEMOIRS OF 



', 



by Bembus : " a Petro Bembo, Patritio Vene- 
to, juvene cum inter primos erudito, turn om- 
nis literarise antiquitatis diligentissimo perves- 
tigatore." The anchor and dolphin, like the 
hieroglyphics of the Egyptians, and of others 
of the ancients (who deemed it impious to 
reveal to the profane vulgar the profound 
maxims of wisdom, by expressing them in the 
written characters then in general use) in- 
volve an important enigmatical signification. 
They imply that which is known by the tes- 
timony of ancient historians, to have been a 
favourite maxim of the Emperor Augustus, 
vide Suetoni- and afterwards of Titus, o-vevSe ftpxSsccg. Eras- 
um * m us. has shewn at large, from the works of 

Oppian and Pliny, that the ancients believed 
the impetus and velocity of the dolphin's mo- 
tion to surpass that of any other creature, 
either of the aquatic or winged tribe, The 
poet attributes to his movements the swiftness 
of the arrow, and the impetuosity of the tem- 
pest. The anchor on the other hand, destined 
to restrain the too rapid course of the vessel, 
and enable it to resist the force of the gale, is 
an appropriate emblem of salutary tardiness 
and caution. Thus, proceeds Erasmus, this 
significant sentence crmevde SpzSaug, is plainly 
derived from the secret and abstruse philoso- 
phy of remotest ages, whence it was selected 
by two of the most justly celebrated Roman 
emperors, to serve as a proverbial maxim to 
the one, and to constitute the implied subject 
of the other's emblematical device ; nor could 
any other adage have more exactly quadrated 
with the respective genius and temper of each. 
It hath now devolved upon Aldus Manuti- 
us Homanus as its third heir : 



BEMBUS. 435 

" Haud equidem sine mente reor, sine numine divum." 

An indisposition of a tedious and obstinate 
nature, the effect of late watching, close ap- 
plication, and the fatigues of office, rendering 
some respite and a change of situation abso- 
lutely necessary, with the advice of his phy- 
sicians, seconded by the instances of Leo, 
Bembus retired to Padua for the sake of its 
air and baths. The death of the pontiff, (w) 
which happened during his absence, prevented 
his return to Rome. He therefore chose to 
continue his residence at Padua, in the tran- 
quil enjoyment of the " otium cum dignita- 
te ; " and there divided his time between his 
literary labours and the conversation of learned 
men. His hours, we are told, were sometimes 
agreeably diversified by the delights of an 
extensive garden ; where he amused and re- 
created himself with botanical researches ; 
usually spending the summer season at Villa- 
bozza, in the vicinity of Padua, his paternal 
inheritance, and the scene of a great part of 
his juvenile studies. Beccatein in 

This comparatively secluded tenour of life Bembl 
Bembus preserved, not only through tjie short 
pontificate of Hadrian VI. but also during 
that of his successor Clement VII. seldom 
visiting the ancient and venerable seat of papal 
dignity. His attention during part of this long 
interval, was employed upon his " Prose, "(jt) 



(w) Leo died in December, 1521, in his forty-fifth year, 
as it is supposed, by poison : " Non sine veneni suspicion© 
rebus humanis excessit.^ (Onuphrius in vit. ejus. J 

(x) This work bears the following title : " Prose di 
3 K % 



■ 









436 MEMOIRS OF 

a work which he had begun long before, but 
had been prevented by his engagements at 
Rome from completing. 

Upon the death of Andrea Navagero, in 
1529, to whom the task had been publicly 
deputed, of recording in the page of history 
the transactions of the Venetian republic, the 
council of ten unanimously fixed upon Bern- 
bus to supply this loss. His advanced age, 
for he was now in his sixtieth year, did not 
prevent him from acceding to this honourable 
request of his countrymen. In writing this 
history, which he completed in twelve books, 
we are told, he professedly chose the style of 
Caesar as his model. 

Clement VII. dying September, 1534, 
the Cardinal Farnese was elected to the ponti- 
ficate, and assumed the name of Paul IIL 
Willing to manifest his regard for the republic 







M. Pietro Bembo nelle quali si ragiona della volgar lingua ; 
scritte al Cardinale de' Medici che poi e stalo creato a som- 
mo Pontefice, & detto Clemente Settimo ; divise in tre li- 
bri." First printed in folio, Venetiis per Joan. Tacuinum an. 
1525. An enlarged edition with an index by Benedictus 
Varchius, was published in 4to. by Laur. Torrentinus, Flor. 
1548. Bembus was the first person, says Apostolus Zenus, 
who explained to his countrymen the mechanism and con- 
struction of their native language. 

The Italian poems of Bembus, intituled H Rime di M. 
Pietro Bembo," were collected and printed for the first 
time, Venetiis per Joan. Ant. et Fratres a Sabbio, an. 1530, 
in 4to. A third and enlarged edition appeared at Rome, 
1548. Bembus is said to have left among other unpublished 
works, a MS. entitled " Delle Vite e Rime de' Poeti Pro- 
venzali ;" which came into the possession of his biographer 
Beccatelli. We are informed that he employed much time 
and pains in the study of the old Provencal writers : " cui 
linguae," (says Zeno) " quis inficietur plurimum debere Ita- 
las musas ?'• 



BEMBUS. 437 

of Venice, by the advancement of one of its 
nobility, he is supposed early to have destined 
Bembus to the cardinalship. But in conse- 
quence of objections, secretly urged, against 
the lighter part of his writings, and some of 
the events of his past life, his appointment 
was not publicly announced till the beginning 
of the year 1,539- (j/) On his acceptance of 
this dignity, the insignia of which, from his 
predilection for retirement, he is said to have 
assumed with reluctance, he determined, says 
Beccatelli, to devote himself wholly to the 
duties of his office. " II che fece" (says he) 
" & altro piu non lesse che scritture sante." 

As nothing appears upon record to impeach 
the moral or religious conduct of Bembus at 
this period, we are justified in concluding 



{y) Among the " Lettere volgari di diversi nobilissimi 
uomini," 8vo. apud Aldum. 1551, are several congratulatory 
letters to Bembo on his exaltation to this dignity. From 
the language of these letters we are led to infer that this 
event was generally expected to have taken place at an 
earlier period ; and it seems to have been delayed by some 
cause rather alluded to than clearly specified. " Dovevano 
molto prima, Reverendissimo Signor mio, le preclare & 
singulari virtu vostre havervi inalzato a questo si degno 
grado, se forse Iddio non havesse egli altramente disposto," 
&c. (II Fracastoro al Cardinal Bembo, fol. 22.J It is 
spoken of as a dignity that could no longer with propriety be 
withheld from a person of his singular merit. (See the letter 
of Marc. Antonio de Mula, fol. 56.) Francesco Guicciar- 
dini professes himself gratified not more by the honour con- 
ferred on his friend, than that by his prudence, steadiness, 
and firmness, he had been at length enabled to rise superior 
to the malice of fortune. (Lib. ii. fol. 7 .) These letters 
also countenance a hint thrown out by one of Bembo's bio- 
graphers, that had his life been prolonged, it was not impro- 
bable he would in time have been exalted to the dignity of 
supreme pontiff 



ASS 



MEMOIRS OF 



that he conducted himself in all respects as 
became his ecclesiastical dignity and charac- 
ter. It is by no means uncommon for the 
habits and views of the same person to be 
different at different seasons of life. It would 
therefore be unjust, to charge all the levities 
and indiscretions of the young man upon the 
cardinal. Yet he has perhaps suffered not a 
little in the latter character, for the actions 
and writings of the former, (s) 

He had long enjoyed a good state of health, 
if we except occasional indispositions from 
slight attacks of the gout. At length the 
infirmities of old age began to steal on him, 
and his sight to be impaired. His death was 
accelerated by an accident, which he met with 



(z) The archbishop of Benevento makes use of a simi- 
lar made of reasoning, in his attempt to exculpate himself 
from a charge of a more aggravated nature than any that has 
been brought against his friend Bembus. 

" Annis abhinc triginta et amplius, scio 
Nonnulla me, fortasse non castissimis 
Lusisse versibus, quod aetas tunc mea 
Rerum me adegit inscia ; & semper jocis ■ 
Licentius gavisa concessu omnium 
Juventa: quod fecere & alii item boni. 
At nunc abit juventa, — lusus permanet ; 
Et carmini illi nomen adscribunt meum 
Idem quod ante erat, nee adscribunt diem 
Eandem : erat quae, quando id olim lusimus : 
Sed quod puer peccavit, accusant senem." 

(Casa ad Gtrmanos.) 

Several however of the earlier productions of Bembus are 
loo licentious to admit of any apology. We can only lament 
that poesy and erudition in these and other instances, should 
so often have been made by early scholars subservient to the 
purposes of immorality. 



BEMBUS. 439 

while riding on horseback. In passing through 
a small postern, he received a bruise on his 
side, which brought on a slow fever. He was 
sensible of his approaching dissolution, and 
conversed chearfully with his friends on that 
subject. He died January 20, 1547, aged 76 
years and eight months. 

The following epitaph w T as by direction of 
his son Torquato inscribed on his tomb. 

PETRO. BEMBO. PATRITIO 
VENETO. OB. EIVS. SINGVLARES 
VIRTVTES. A. PAVLO. III. PON. MAX. 
IN. SACRVM. COLLEGIVM. COOPTATO 
TORQVATVS. BEMBUS. P. 

Marc-Antoine Muret is cited by Zeno, as 
observing, that after the restoration of letters, 
chiefly by means of the Medicean family, in- 
numerable writers of Latin on every science 
appeared, but very few in a style not to say 
faultless, but even possessing any semblance 
of pure and classical latinity. " Ut Grasci 
proverbio dicunt multos esse qui thyrsum fe- 
runt, sed paucos Bacchos, ita multorum falsa\ 
quadam latini sermonis specie inducta et ob- 
lita oratio est, paucorum latina. Duo in Ita- 
lia summi viri duces ceteris ad hanc laudem 
capessandam, et quasi antesignani fuerunt, 
Jacobus Sadoletus, et Petrus Bembus." 

Bembus, says Casa, was the first to look 
back to the ancient models, to correct the 
perverted taste that generally prevailed ; and 
to persuade his countrymen rather to imitate 
Cicero, Virgil, and Cassar, in their Latin 
compositions, than Apuleius, Macrobius and 
Statius. 




440 MEMOIRS OF 

The obligations which the Italian language 
lay under to Bembo, are thus comprehensively 
expressed (a) in an epigram of Cynthius Jo- 
annes Baptista Gyraldi of Ferrara : 

" Thusca tuo debes Petrarchae Musa Parenti 

Multum, Bembeae sed magis una lyrae ; 

Carm. Illustr. Namque is te genuit, — Bembus revocavit ab Oreo ; 

Poetar. Italor. m ud morta l e est ; hoc reor esse Dei." 

torn. v. 



Among the Italian poems of Bembo, his 
ode or canzone to the memory of his brother 
Carlo, who died young, has been universally 
approved as a perfect model in that species of 
composition. His Latin poems are in general 
classically elegant and correct. He has been 
particularly successful in some of his epi- 
grams ; among which his * i Raphaelis Urbinatis 
Pictoris Epitaphium," is deserving of special 
mention : 

" Hie ille est Raphael, metuit quo sospite vinci 
Rerum magna Parens, et moriente, mori." 



(a) Apostolo Zeno introduces an observation of Var- 
chius (in Herculano, page 24, ) to the same effect. w Primo 
il Bembo di tutti, osservando le regole della grammatica, 
e mettendo in opera gli ammaestramenti del bene e artificio- 
samente scrivere, 1' imito (Petrarcham scilicet) da dovero, 
e rassomigliandosi a lui, mostro la piana e diritta via del 
leggiadramente, e lodevolmente comporre nella lingua Fio- 



rentma. 



" Bembo, che 1 puro, e dolce idioma nostro 

Levato fuor del volgar uso tetro, 

Quale esser dee, ci ha col suo esempio moslro. ,, 

(Arioslo. " Orland. Fur." Canto ult.J 



BEMBUS. 441 

Bembus was generally sparing in his diet, 
and often studied with long and intense ap- 
plication. He was nice to a degree of fasti- 
diousness in the choice of his words and forms 
of expression ; and repeatedly corrected his 
works. He was also particularly successful 
in some of his classical imitations. By the 
following attempt in a species of literary de- 
ception then perhaps fashionable, he is said to 
have effectually imposed for a time upon the 
whole university of Ferrara. For the idea 
however at least, Bembus was himself perhaps 
indebted to some existing remains of ancient L' Antiquite 
sculpture. Montfaucon has given an engraved prem^a^ie 
representation of a funeral scene correspond- p- 16 - a Pa - 
ing with the poetical picture which Bembus foil ' m 
Jias drawn. 



FICTUM PRO ANTIQUO. 

JElia natorum manesque sequuta mariti, 

Usa .sua jacet hie Septimiana manu. 
Vir Turk. in us erat, cum quo tria lustra peregit, 

Jurgiaque in sancto nulla fuere toro. 
Binaque de primo suscepitpignora partu, 

Dein natam matris spemque metumque sua?. 
Crudeles Divi ! proles adoleverat, at Mors 

Injecit tetricas perviolenta manus. 
Post quae moerentem, ne quid superesset amanti, 

Abstulit orbatae proxima luna virum : 
Quern simul ac flamma vidit lambente cremari, 

" Ergo ibis, tecum nee tua, dixit, erit ? 
Eripies mihi tu nunquam hoc, fortuna : licebit 

Hoc saltern invita te potuisse mibi." 
Dixerat, et stricto fixit sua pectora ferro : 

Sic moriens caro nunc quoque juncta viro est. 

3 L 



44£ MEMOIRS OF 



\ 



Here jElia lies, who self-devoted, prov s d 
A willing death to join the shades she lov'd. 
Her spouse Turrinus, full three lustres sped, 
Nor discord once disturbed the nuptial bed. 
Twin pledges first her fond embraces share ; 
A daughter next, her pride and anxious care. 
Unpitying Gods ! in youth's maturing bloom 
Her offspring sunk untimely to the tomb. 
Next of her spouse, her last sad solace left, 
One short revolving moon the wife bereft. 
Now seen his corse to fun'ral fires consign'd ; 
" Fliest thou ! and lingers yet thy love behind ? 
Here Fate, thy power shall fail, affection's tie 
To rend again shall thy worst rage defy [" 
She said — then in her bosom plung'd the sword, 
Nor dying — was dissever'd from her lord, . 



To Bembus Fracastor inscribed his " Sy- 
philis." He was frequently solicited to revise 
the compositions of others. Ariosto is re* 
ported to have subjected to the revisal of Bem- 
bus his " Orlando Furioso," and even Sanna- 
zarius, it is said, submitted his celebrated poem 
" De Partu Virginis" to the critical inspec- 
tion of the same person previously to its pub- 
lication. In discharging the office of a lite- 
rary censor, he was candid, and seldom harshly 
in vita di p. severe. But Beccatelli furnishes us with one 
Bembo. instance of his critical severity, in the follow- 
ing words : 

" Vero e che intesi da persona degna di 
fede in Bologna, che havendoli uno di quei 
poeti assai inetto portato a mostrare, mentre 
che di la passava, un suo libraccio di molti 
versi in rima, scritto pero di buona mano, & 
pregatolo che per quel giorno, o due, che so- 



BEMBUS. 443 

prastava del viaggio, lo vedesse, & die tro- 
vando cosa alcuna, che non li sodisfacesse, la 
notasse con un poco di cera in margine, per- 
che poi si potesse levar senza offesa, tomato il 
valente huomo per il libro, la vista del quale 
in pochi versi haveva stracco M. Pietro, & 
guardando, ne trovandoli note alcune di cera, 
tutto allegro disse : Dunque V. S. 1' approva 
senza eccettione, poiche vedo che in niuna 
parte Tha tocco. A che M, Pietro rispose, 
lo l'ho fatto per manco briga persuadendomi 
che sia meglio il dirvi che lo portiate ad un 
spetiale, quando fa candele, & tutto lo atuf- 
fiate in un tratto nella caldaja della cera, della 
quale ne pigliaria a bastanza per sodisfare al 
desiderio vostro, & ai giudicio mio." 

A statue was erected at Padua to the me- 
mory of Bembo, at the expense of his friend 
Hieronimo d' Ismerio Quirino, with the fol- 
lowing inscription ; 

PETRI. BEMBI. CARD. IMAGINEM 

HIERONYMVS. QVIRINVS. ISMERII. F 

IN. PVBLICO. PONENDAM. CVRAVIT 

VT. CVIVS. INGENII 

MONVMENTA. AETERNA. SINT 

EIVS. CORPORIS. QVOQVE. MEMORIA 

NE. A. POSTERITATE. DESIDERETVR. 

VIX. ANN. LXXVI. M. VII. D.XXIX 
OBIIT. XV. CAL. FEBR. M.D.XLVII, 

The memory of Bembo was honoured with 
the following additional sepulchral eulogy, by 
the pen of cardinal Sadoleto, his ancient friend 
and colleague, whose praise derives weight 
from the character of the person who bestowed 
it: 

3 l % 






444 



MEMOIRS OF 






DEO IMM. S. 

ET VIRTUTI AC MEMORISE PETRI BEMBI PATRITII 
VENETI, S. R. E. CARD1NALIS, CUJUS INGENII, L1TERA- 
RUM, ELOaUENTIiE, GLORIA IN SUO SiECULO PRIN- 
CEPS, ET ANTIQUORUM LAUD1BUS PAR ; GRATIA AUTEM 
IN AMPL1S3IMO ORDINE, IN MOR1BUS PROB1TAS, HU- 
MANITAS, LIBERALITAS, SUPRA COMMUNEM MODUM 
SEMPER EX1STIMATA SUNT ; QUOD DE EJUS VITA HO- 
MINUM JUDICIUM, BEATA MORS SANCT1SSIME AB EO 
ET PACATISSIME OB1TA, DIV1NO QUOQUE CONFIRMAVIT 
TESTIMONIO. 

Amongst the numerous poetical effusions 
to which the same event gave rise, the follow- 
ing hy Angelus Colotius (b) is worthy to be 






{b) Angelus Colotius descended from an illustrious 
family of the city of Esino, obtained whilst yet a youth, the 
honour of knighthood ; which was conferred upon him by 
the hands of Andreas Palaeologus Despota, who then a re- 
fugee at Rome was recognized as the legitimate heir to the 
imperial diadem of Constantinople. Colotius was a disciple 
of Georgius Vaila. For political reasons, which are recited 
by Ubaldinus in his life of this illustrious scholar, the family 
of the Colocci, were obliged, in the pontificate of Innocent 
VIII. to abandon the city of Rome where they had taken up 
their residence. Angelus, in consequence repaired to Na- 
ples ; and during his exile in that city became a member of 
the Academia Pontana, under the assumed name of Angelus 
Colotius Bassus ; whence originated his intimate connection 
with the principal members of that literary society. He 
returned to Rome about the time when Pontanus was sent 
as the ambassador of Ferdinand, king of Naples, to nego- 
tiate a peace with the Roman pontiff. After successively 
obtaining various honourable and lucrative situations in the 
pontifical court, he was nominated by Leo X. to the succes- 
sion of the bishopric of Nocera : but with the actual pos- 
session of this dignity and its emoluments he was not invested 



BEMBUS. 445 



distinguished, as the production of a person 
who comhined the most extensive acquire- 



till the year 1533, in the pontificate of Paul III. k He con- 
tinued therefore to reside during this long interval at Rome 
in great affluence ; and with distinguished literary repu- 
tation. 

The extensive and delightful gardens of Colotius, which, 
in addition to the most captivating scenery resulting from a 
happy combination of nature and art, were adorned with a 
profusion of statues, inscriptions, and other elegant remains 
of classic antiquity, revived the magnificence and amenity of 
the celebrated Horti Sallustiani, of which they were 
supposed to occupy the actual site. These gardens were 
the favorite resort of the learned, and were considered as 
the repository of the arts, and of letters. The noble hospi- 
tality of the proprietor gave additional attractions to these 
haunts of the muses : and especially after the decease of 
Pomponius Laetus, the palace and gardens of Colocci be- 
came the asylum of the academy. Colotius himself who 
was no less remarkable for his literary attainments, than for 
his wealth and splendour, was universally honoured " quasi 

UK.BANORUM INGENIOKUM UURrrH/EUS." 

Few of the literary productions of Colotius have been 
made public, probably because they were for the most 
part left in an unfinished state. Several fugitive epigrams 
and other poems, cited by his biographer Ubaldinus how- 
ever, sufficiently assert his claim to the poetic wreath. For 
a fountain which ornamented the gardens of Colocci, his 
classic taste induced him to select the following lines as an 
appropriate inscription : 

Hujus Nympha loci, sacri custodia fontis, 
Dormio dum blandse sentio murmur aquae. 

Parce meum cjuisquis tangis cava marmora somnum 
Rumpere, sive bibas, sive lavere, tace. 

Ubaldini supposes Colocci to be the author of the foregoing 
inscription : but in this conjecture he is probably mistaken. 
We have already fin page 281 of these Memoirs, note (i) 
introduced a translation of the same epigram by Girolamo 
Benivieni, which was undoubtedly executed a considerable 
time before the existence of the Horti Colotiani : and Mont- 
faucon (Antiquite Expliquee, fyc. torn. i. part 2, p. 386. 
Paris. 1719, in fol.) has given an engraving of an ancient 



446 MEMOIRS OF 

ments in elegant literature, with all the urba- 
nity and munificence that could adorn a dig- 
nified station and an ample fortune. 

Bembo hor ch' e giunto a piu beata riva 
Lo tuo d J esto empio mar felice legno, 
E nel ciel tocchi il destinato segno 
Ove da pochi a gran pena s' arriva, 

Sol duolsi Etruria, che sia ignuda, e priva 
D* un si nobil tesor, si ricco pegno, 
Con temer che non mai truove altro ingegno 
C he si dolce d' Amor piu canti, o scriva : 

Canoro Cigno, che del Tebro all* onde 
Lasci cantando Ie gia. bianche spoglie, 
Ch' ancor del suon n' han gioia ambe le sponde, 

Gia tua man sacra il serto, e'l premio coglie 
D* allori eterni, e non di quelle fronde, 
Che ne da primavera, e'l verno toglie. 



Since Bembo 'twas thy envied lotto gain 
The tranquil port of yon celestial shore, 
Which, life's tempestuous ocean struggling o'er, 
Full blest is he whose frail bark can attain : 



sculpture representing a Naiad sleeping on the grassy brink 
of a fountain, on the base of which the same lines appear. 

" Legebantur" (says Ubaldini, speaking of the works of 
Angelus Colotius) " in Vaticana Bibliotheca plura ejus epi- 
grammata, et quaedam Italica rythmica. Constat etiam 
quantum laboris impendent Italicae linguae illustranda?, datis 

praeceptis, confecto vocabulario, &c Nisi hanc glo- 

riam Bembus occupasset, a Colotio hujusmodi beneficium 
expeclandum erat," &c. After discharging for several years 
his episcopal functions with great propriety, Colotius resign- 
ed his bishopric and again retired to Rome : where he sur- 
vived till the year 15 4-1). (Vide vit. Angcli Colotii Episc, 
Nuccrini. Auct. Fed. Ubaldino. Romce, 1673, in 8vo,J 



feEMfeus. 447 

Etruria mourns disconsolate; — that vein 

Of elocution rich, her boast no more ; 

And asks, who now on wing like thine shall soar, 

Or breathe to Love so sweet, so soft a strain : 
Melodious Swan ! that near thy Tiber's waves 

Hast left thy snowy spoils, with parting lays 

That through his vocal banks yet echoing ring ; 
Henceforth 'tis thine to weave of tuneful leaves 

The wreath for ever verdant, — not the bays 

Of transient bloom, that wither in their spring. 

Cardinal Sadoleto did not long survive his 
friend Bembus. He died in the month of 
October following. That same year, says 
Beccatelli, seemed destined to extinguish the 
brightest luminaries of Rome ; which within 
one month after the decease of Bembo, was 
deprived of Signoria Vittoria Colonna, Mar- 
chioness of Pescara, who in poetical talents 
was another Sappho ; and in works of piety 
and charity a second Saint Elizabeth — " che 
a'giorni nostri in versi e stata un' altra Sapho, 
& in opere sante & di charita una Santa Elisa- 
betta." Concerning this lady, a Latin poet 
of the same age cited by Lancelloti, in his Parte seconds, 
sprightly work entitled " L' Hoggidi, overo venez.lns 
GT Ingegni non inferior! a' passati," makes to j?- 8?0s 
the following honourable mention : 

Prisca quid hoc nostro videre beatius aevo 
Ingenia ? ecquae illis major dementia coeli 
Faustius arrisit : sed enim satis ante probatum est 
Quid valeant hsec ssec'la viris, at temporis acti 
Mirator jactabit adhuc quam mascula Sappho 
Praecipuam lyrico tulerit modulamine palmam. 
Teque Tanagrsese superatum voce Corinnse 



448 MEMOIRS OF 



'; 



Pindare, dum quinto inferior certamine cedis. 
Huic ego Te objiciam, faustum Victoria ! nomen; 
Quae non prisca tuis tantiim muliebria plectris 
PJectra silere vales Romanaque Graecaque Thuscis : 
Sed (tua quae virtus propria est) lascivia versus 
Commaculat dum nulla tuos, tua Musa maritas 
Extinctas flet maesta faces, lectique jugalis 
Sublimem socium mediis interserit astris ; 
^Eternive boni veros suspirat amores. 
Tantum sola decus casto fers carmine, quantum 
Dedecus obscoeno Sapphoque Corinnaque versu. 



Why should not ours with former ages vie ? 
Has Genius found a less auspicious sky, 
Thus doom'd to pine in these degenerate days ? 
— Compell'd you grant our poets equal praise, 
But ask, of the soft sex, with manly fire 
Who now like Sappho strikes the invigor'd lyre? 
Or her, that in the harmonious strife unfoil'd, 
Thee, five times, Pindar, of the bays despoiTd ? 
Victoria ! thine the praise, auspicious name! 
Tuneful as they, she shines with purer fame : 
Silent, abash'd, let Graecia's blushing dames, 
And Rome's, admit Etruria's modest claims ; 
Whether her Muse the nuptial torch deplores 
Extinct, or with her consort's spirit soars 
(Enthusiast sweet) yon stellar orbs above — 
Or rapturous hymns the eternal source of love. 
Sappho! Corinna! blush, your strains unchaste, 
Where chief she triumphs, speak you most disgrac'd. 



BEMBUS. 449 



GALATEA. 

Pan A Deum Siculi per iniquas littorls undas, 

Eludit tarda dum Galatea fuga ; 
Seque adeo spe provectus, studioque sequendi, 

Plus medium infido tingueret llle mari ; 
Quo fugis 6 Galatea ? mane, mane, 6 Galatea : 

Non ego sum, dixit, non ego, Nympha, Cyclops, 
Qui flavum avulsis jaculatus rupibus Acin, 

Saevitiae liqoit tristia signa suae. 
Pastorum pecorisque Deus, cui garrulacera 

Prima dedit varios fistula juncta modos ; 
Quern gelidi frondosa colunt pineta Lycei, 

Laetaque Masnalio Parrhasis ora jugo ; 
Unam de cunctis tediligo Neptuninis : 

G Galatea mane, 6 jam Galatea mane. 
Hie loquebatur : fundo deelive maligno 

Littus erat : gressum non tenuere pedes; 
Sed pelagi dum coeca urget male cautus, et instat, 

Qua refugit pendens, snbtrahiturque solum, 
Labitur, et summas dorso converrit arenas : 

Labentem intortis obruit unda fretis : 
Utque Deam, Galatea, iterans Galatea, vocabat, 

Implerunt tenues ora vocantis aquae. 
Turn primum latices epotavisse marinos 

Pan a ferunt, ponti nee latuisse Deum : 
Sed quia Nereidas ibat vexare puellas, 

Offensum fluctus non tenuisse suos. 
Ergo ilium nandi insuetum glauca excipit alto 

Unda sinu : exultant irrequieta vada. 
Marmora ter superare manu conatus amara, 

Ter circumfusis est revolutus aquis. 
Nympha Dei lapsum cupidis spectarat ocelli's, 

Gratior & pulchro risus in ore fuit. 
Spectarant, sparsi ut steterant per littora, Fauni, 

Pan, comites Fauni, grataque turba tua, 
3 M 



450 



MEMOIRS OF 



Et mixtus Faunis, cordi cui semper amores 

Nympharum, et querulo tibia rauca sono, 
Incubus, et Satyri, & coniferae Silvanus 

Arboris agresti cinctus honore caput. 
Qui simul atque ipsum gentis videre parentem 

Pana sub impuris mergier aequoribus; 
Nympha redi, Galatea redi, neu desere amantem, 

Ingeminant omnes : Candida Nympha redi. 
Ah ! tantum ne admisse tuis sit dedecus undis, 

Quod taceant nulli post Galatea dies. 
Ingeminant Divi : clamoribus icta resultat 

Arida pumiceum qua lavit iEtna pedem. 
Ilia metum fallax simulare, et tendere in altum ; 

Et vanas surda rejicere aure preces : 
Quo magis ii tristes mcesti versare querelas, 

Et pelagi expertes dicere amore Deos. 
Pectora pars pulsare manu, pars currere in undas ; 

Cedit, & argutos tardat arena pedes. 
Omnia quae obliquo lente nans respicit ore, 

Unaque tot gaudet fallere Nympha Deos. 
Utque satis lusit, certe sat lusimus, inquit, 

Successuque mei non caruere doli. 
Atque ita jactatis relegit freta versa lacertis, 

Pronaque non longum vincere tendit iter. 
Summa secant pulsae fluctu saliente papillae : 

Spumea sub niveo murmurat unda pede. 
Turn summo apprensum cornu sustollit: atilli 

Clauserat insolitus lumina victa sopor. 
Ut rediit cum luce animus ; " Quo percitus oestro 

Conjugium arTectas,' , dixit, " inepte, meum ? 
Perque ausus vada salsa sequi, regna invia vobis, 

Invitam pergis sollicitare Deam ? 
Numen aquae gaudet tumidarum numine aquarum, 

Conveniunt votis vota propinqua meis. 
Tu pete montivagas, quarum es de gente, capellas 
Parte tui, et nostros linque, proterve, toros." 



BEMBUS. 451 



GALATEA. 

From Pan, while Galatea slowly flies, 

The God pursues, and hopes to clasp his prize. 

His steps alluring o'er the yielding sand, 

Where dangerous waters beat Sicilia's strand, 

Her native deep the wily nymph regains, 

Nor yet his eager chace the deep restrains : 

Till half immers'd beneath the treacherous flood, 

" Stay Nymph," he cries, " why thus my suit elude ! 

Stay, Galatea, stay: repress thy fear : 

Nor vainly think the hateful Cyclops near, 

Who with rent rocks thy Ac is dar'd to wound, 

While jealous fury stain'd the reeking ground. — 

'Tis Pan pursues, — 'tis Pa n, whose skill divine 

First taught the tuneful reeds with wax to join ; 

Me, swains on pine-crow n'd Msnalus adore, 

And cool Lycaeus owns my guardian pow'r ; 

For thee alone of Neptune's train I burn, 

Then stay thou, Nymph, and at my suit return." 

He said ; — abrupt and steep declin'd the shore, 
And scarce the slippery bank his footsteps bore ; 
Yet, where the sly Nymph leads the insidious way, 
He treads, with haste that serves but to betray ; 
Till from his step withdraws the unstable ground, 
And gives him sudden to the deep profound. — 
Down glides the God, — by envious love beguil'd, 
With slime, and sand, his struggling form defil'd ; 
And on his lips, while " Galatea" dwells, 
His half-form'd voice the eddying water quells, 

3m2 



452 MEMOIRS OF 



I 



Then first did Pan, if truth accord with fame, 
Drink, in reluctant draughts, the briny stream ; 
Stern Neptune saw, nor bade his floods refrain 
To avenge a sister of the Nereid tram. 
Unsktli'd to swim, the exulting deep receives, 
And sportive rolls him in the restless waves ; 
Yet thrice, the bank he seiz'd, with effort vain, 
And thrice, relaps'd into the whelming main. 

The struggling God, with joy the Nymph surveyed, 
And her fair face a lovelier smile display'd. 
His luckless fall, as round the shore they stood, 
The gazing Fauns, his own attendants viewed. 
Thy fall, O Pan, survey 'd that wanton throng. 
Whom rape delights, and revelry, and song, 
The mingled Satyrs ; — and Sylvanus, thou, 
Known by the cypress that adorns thy brow. 

Their leader's sad mischance they mark with pain, 
And, while he struggles with the billowy main, 
All hail the Nymph, in tones of anxious grie£ 
*' Haste, Galatea! haste to his relief ! 
Return kind Nymph, in pity, to his aid, 
Nor leave thy suitor helpless, and betray 'd ; — 
Ah ! let not such a crime thy realms disgrace, 
Which not the lapse of time can e'er efface." — 

Thus they exclaim ; the echoing tones rebound, 
And distant iEtna thunders back the sound ; 
Yet still the Nymph, with well-dissembled fear, 
Flies to the deep, nor lends a listening ear. — 
With added clamours they their voices join, 
And tax with cruelty each pow'r marine; 
Now beat their breasts in agonizing grie£ 
Rush to the waves, and tender vain relief; 
For still, the treacherous shore beneath their feet 
Recedes, — nor can support the incumbent weight. 



BEMBUS. 453 



With secret triumph, as she swims along, 
The Nymph obliquely views the anxious throng ; 
Pleas'd that success her single art hath crown'd, . 
That one sole pow'r, such numbers can confound ; 
Then cries, " since victory thus rewards our wiles, 
Content we'll end the sport, and break the toils/' 

She said ; and quick to appease their loud alarms 
Plied the light oarage of her rosy arms ; 
While swift the refluent deep her bosom cleaves, 
And stems her snowy foot the murmuring waves; 
Then rais'd his dripping head, with torpid night 
Opprest, nor conscious of the cheerful light. 

When slow-returning sense pervades his frame : 
Thus she — " ah ! why indulge the unequal flame, 
Rash power ! what frenzy urg'd with aims undue, 
'Midst her own realms a sea-nymph to pursue ! 
To me the fates assign some other spouse, 
Some pow'r marine to share my equal vows : — 
Hence, let thy native woods thy views restrain, 
Nor longer woo a goddess of the main," 





MEMOIRS 

OF 

FRACASTORIUS. 



■ O, SI TE COMITEM DENT RURA BEATA 
BARDOLENA MIHI ! O, QUIS NOS PROPTER AMOENUM 
BENACUM, VIRIDI SILVIS IN LITTORE SISTAT : 
ATftUE OLEA LAUROQUE TEGAT ! 

Fracast. ad M. Ant. Flamin. & Galeat. Florimont. 



At has been observed, that Fracastor was 
not an author who wrote for fame. His facility 
in composition, rendered that a pleasure to 
him which to many is a toil ; and in his con- 
verse with the muses especially, he appears to 
have had little further view than the tempo- 
rary amusement of himself and his friends. 
His " Citriorum Epigrammata," and many of 
his smaller pieces are lost. So indifferent was 
this author with regard to the fate of his poe- 
tical productions, that we are told he seldom 




456 MEMOIRS OF 

evinced any concern for their preservation. 
The greater part of such of his poems as have 
survived to our times, were with difficulty 
collected together from the various reposito- 
ries of the learned ; and thus rescued from 
oblivion, merely by the care of individuals who 
fortunately knew how to appreciate their me- 
rits. 

This accomplished scholar was born at 
Verona, about the year 1484, and descended 
m^operibus " from a very ancient and honourable family. 
ejus praefixa. His father Paulo-Philippus, and the rest of his 
inTto." ' friends, remarked with pleasure those signs of 
a promising genius which distinguished the 
juvenile days of Fracastor ; and no expense 
was spared in his education. Singular cir- 
cumstances are recorded concerning his birth 
and infancy. He came into the world with 
his lips so united, that the knife of the sur- 
geon was requisite to separate them, {a) While 



(a) Julius Caesar Scaliger alludes to this incident in 
the following indifferent epigram : 

Os Fracastorio nascenti defuit, ergo 

Sedulus attenta finxit Apollo manu; 
Inde hauri, medicusque ingens, ingensque Poeta, 

Et magno facies omnia plena deo. 

Thus imitated by the Italian poet Marino : 

Al Fracastor nascente 

Manco la bocca, allora il biondo Dio 

Con arte diligente 

Di sua man gliela fece, e gliel* aprio, 

Poi di se gliel' empio. 

Quinciei divin divenne: ed egualmente 

Di doppia gloria in un giunse a la nieta, 

E Fisico, e Poeta. 






FRACASTORIUS. * 457 

his mother, Camilla Mascarellia, was fondling 
him, yet an infant, in her arms, she was killed 
by lightening, but he escaped unhurt. In his Y. ita Fracasto- 
youth he was sent to prosecute his studies at msupra 
Padua. Here, not content with superficial 
acquirements, he manifested an earnest desire 
to render himself thoroughly master of every 
science that occupied his attention. His un- 
common memory and unwearied application, 
enabled him to make a singular proficiency in 
mathematics. Petrus Pomponatius, (£) a Man- 



(b) Petrus Pomponatius was born at Mantua, 
A. D. 1462. He delivered lectures on the philosophy 
of Aristotle and Averroes, first at Padua, where his 
pleasing elocution, talents and ingenuity, procured him 
many hearers. He afterwards removed to the university of 
Bologna, where he composed his celebrated little treatise. in 
which he has been supposed to call in question the immorta- 
lity of the soul. " Cucullatos sacerdotes contra se in caput 
et nominis famam vehementissime concitavit, edito scilicet 
volumine, quo animas post corporis mortem interituras, ex 
sententia Aristotelis probare nititur> secutus Aphrodisei pla- 
cita, cujus dogmate ad corrumpendam juventutem dissolven- 
damque Christianas vitae disciplinam nihil pestilentius induci 
potuit." (Jovii Elog.J 

An edition of this book, published anno 1534, in 12mo. 
is termed by bibliographers " Liber inter rariores rarissi- 
mus," and said to have been publicly burned on account of 
the atheistical dogmata which it contains : but the edition of 
the above date could not have been the earliest of this work. 
It moreover bears so modern an appearance, that Maittaire 
suspects the date to be a false one. f Annul. Typogr. torn. ii. 
p. 805. ) An edition of the same work, apparently published 
without notice of printer, year, or place, is in the possession 
of the author of these memoirs. It has the following colo- 
phon : 

" Finis impositus est huic tractatui per me Petrum filium 
Joannis Nicolai Pomponatii de Mantua die 24 mens. Sep- 
tembr. Anno Christi 1516, Bononise: Anno 4 Pontificatus 
Leonis X. ad laudem individual Trinitatis." See also "Yoght. 
Catal. Historico-Critic. Libror. rarior. ed. nov. acturante 
Juno Librario in 8vo. Hamb. 1738.'* 
3 N 



4£8 MEMOIRS OF 

tuan, had the direction of his philosophical 
studies. 

At the university of Padua, Fracastor had 
for associates and fellow- students, several 



Concerning the same work and its author, the editors of 
" Nouveau Dictionnaire Historique," (A Caen 1789) furnish 
us with the following additional particulars. " His book 
" De Immortalitate Animae," in which he maintains that 
Aristotle did not believe the immortality of the soul, and 
that it is capable of being proved only by the Scripture and 
the authority of the church, was attacked with great vehe- 
mence. This sentiment was deemed dangerous. The mat- 
ter was referred to the arbitration of Bembus, who endea- 
voured to justify Pomponatius: so that he obtained permis- 
sion to publish his book anew. Niceron, amongst various 
others, thus defends Pomponatius. " On est accoutume* a 
le regarder comme un impie et un athe'e qui ne songeoit qu* 
k de'truire la Religion Chr£tienne ; tachant d' en saper les 
fondemens par lqs coups qu* il a ported a 1' immortalite* de Y 
ame. II se peut faire qu* il ait pense un peu librement sur 
plusieurs points de la Religion, come le faisoient plusieurs 
savans de son temps, avec lesquels ce deTaut lui etoit com- 
mun. Mais ses ouvrages ne font rien voir de cet ath£isme 
pr^tendu qu* on lui attribue, et pourvu qu* on les Ike avec 
un esprit de'sinteressd, on revrendra, du moins en partie, de 
la prevention g£n6rale ou 1* on est a son ^gard." 

Pomponatius thus explains himself in his " Defensorium" 
on this head : " Si Christus resurrexit, nos resurgemus ; si 
nos resurgemus, anima est immortalis. At Christum vere a 
mortuis surrexisse scimus ex tantorum et sanctissimorum vi- 
rorum testimonio, ex ecclesia. militante* Ergd vere anima 
est immortalis/' 

His philosophical works were collected and published at 
Venice in 1525. He is said to have composed for himself 
the epitaph which follows : 

Hie sepultus jaceo. Quare ? nescio. 

Nee si scis, aut nescis, euro. 

Si vales, bene est : vivens valui. 

Fortasse nunc valeo : 

Si, aut non, dicere nequeo. 

Vanini, whose " Dialogi," as MorhofY observes, " atheismi 
virus tegunt," &c. was a scholar of Pomponatius. 



FRACASTOltlUS. 459 

young men of distinguished rank. Among 
these were Caspar Contarenus, who was after- 
wards created a cardinal by Paul III. An- 
dreas Naugerius ; Marcus Antonius Contare- 
nus ; all Venetians of high distinction. Jo- 
annes Jacobus Bardulonus of Mantua ; Pom- 
ponius and Lucas Gaurici, brothers, and 
deeply skilled in astronomy ; Joannes Baptists 
Rhamnusius ; and lastly, Marcus Antonius, 
Joannes Baptista and Rhaymundus Turriani, 
three brothers, of one of the noblest houses of 
Verona; with whom, the writings ofFracastor 
evince that he afterwards maintained a cor- 
dial and uninterrupted friendship. 

Fracastor continued to reside at Padua ; 
where he probably became a public lecturer in 
some branch of learning, till war interrupted 
the tranquility, and ruined the prosperity of 
that seat of letters. We are told that he was af- 
terwards engaged, at the instance of Livianus, 
general of the Venetian forces, on terms very 
honourable to him, to superintend some de- 
partment of science at an academy in Friuli.(c) 
Here he had a further opportunity of cultivat- 
ing the friendship of Navagero, and of Joan- 
nes Cotta, a gentleman of Legnano, who ex- 
celled in poetry, and whom Frascator cele- 
brates in his poems. But there is reason to sup- 
pose that in this new situation he did not enjoy 



(c) " Academia Forojuliensi ad Portam Naonem, i. e. 
In " Novale Castella del Trevigiano," according to Maffei. 
" Academiam in agro Tarvisino ad Portum Naonem institue- 
rat, evocatis in contubernium praecellentibus poetis, in queis 
longe demum clarissimi (prseter Cottam) Fracastorius, Nau- 
gerius, et Hieronymus Borgius evaserunt/' ( P. Jovius in Jo. 
Cottce Elogio.J 

3n2 



' 




460 



MEMOIRS OF 



any lasting tranquillity. We are informed that 
he accompanied his friend Livianus in several 
military expeditions. At length this com- 
mander having been defeated and taken pri- 
soner in an engagement on the banks of the 
venetaTub! Adda, Fracastor returned to his native city, 
vii. apud.fin. and applied himself to the management of his. 
paternal estate, which had suffered greatly in 
the general devastation. 

Fracastor had married during the life-time 
of his father, and in compliance with his wishes. 
This marriage was not unproductive ; but he 
had the grief of attending two of his sons tq 
the grave, who were snatched from him by a 
premature decease, (d) He was deprived of a 
third at a more advanced age. Paulo-Philip- 
pus was the only son who survived him. Of 
him the biographer of Fracastor makes men- 
tion as living at Verona in his time, and emi- 
nent for his literary qualifications : " quern" 
(says he) " hodi& Verona? praeclaro florentem 
ingenio admiramur." 

Medicine was the science to which Fracas- 
tor devoted his chief attention. His fame 
as a physician was widely diffused. In the 
whole course of a practice in which he was 
eminently successful, gain was with him a 
secondary and very inferiour concern. It has 
even been affirmed that he practised entirely 
without pecuniary reward. To his other ac- 
quirements Fracastor added a profound know- 
ledge of natural philosophy and astronomy, 



(d) The death of these sons he very pathetically laments, 
in the verses addressed " ad Joannem Baptistam Turrianum 
Veronensem. ,, 



FRACASTORIUS. 46} 

and in his astronomical treatises, he had the 
credit of pointing out or elucidating some 
things which were till then entirely unknown, 
or very imperfectly understood, (e) 

The astronomical, critical, and philosophi- 
cal treatises of Fracastor are enlivened with 
occasional poems. Several of them are com- 
posed in the form of conversations; a species 

, _— -T — , 

(e) Scipione Maffei, in the Notizia Letteraria, sub- 
joined to the work entitled *' Verona Illustrata, " in fol. 
Veronae, 1732, has given a summary of the improvements 
which the philosophy of medicine as well as the science of 
astronomy, received from the writings of Fracastor. That 
the telescope was an instrument not entirely unknown to 
him, Maffei proves in the following words : " All* uso del 
cannocchiale fece strada fin dal tempo suo 1' autore di cui 
trattiamo, poiche disse nel capo 23 de gli Omocentrici, che 
riguardando la.luna, e le s telle con certi vetri, venivano a 
parer vicinissime, et non piu alte delle torri ; e disse nel 
capo 8 : Si quis per duo specilla ocularia perspiciat, altero 
alteri superposito, majora multo, et propinquiora videbit 
omnia." 

And that a species of microscope also was in use so early 
as the time of Giovanni Rucellai, who flourished in the pon- 
tificate of Leo X. appears, says Maffei, from the following 
passage in the " Api," a poem of that author ; 

te Io gia mi posi a far di questi insetti 
Incision per molti membri loro, 
Che chiama Anatomia la lingua Greca ; 
E parebbe impossibil s* io narrassi 
Alcuni lor membretti come stanno, 
Che son quasi invisibili a i nostr* occhi." 

" E segue dicendo, come si era valso di vetri, i quali 
tanto ingrandivano, che bambino pur* allor nato parea il 
colosso di Rodi." Rucellai, a native of Florence, and re- 
lated to the family of the Medici, was born about the year 
1475. He was disappointed in his expectation of ecclesias- 
tical preferment by the death of his patron Leo X. but from 
Clement VII. obtained the appointment of Castellano di 
castel Sant* Angelo. He died about the fiftieth year of his age. 



462 



MEMOIRS OF 



of writing sanctioned by some of the finest 
models of antiquity, and much used in these 



\ 



Scipione Maffei, in the work before-mentioned, has 
given some very interesting notices of various of his learned 
countrymen, who flourished as well in very early periods, 
as in those distinguished for the revival of learning. The 
elegance of the following little poem, of a date so remote as 
the middle of the fifteenth century, which he gives on the 
authority of an inedited MS. to which he had access, may 
perhaps be a sufficient apology for its insertion here. 



BEKNARDINI CILENir VERONENSIS. 

Quid fles, o mea lux ? quid madidas genas 
Perturbas lacrimis, albaque percutis 

Saevis pectora palmis, 

Et flavum lanias caput? 
Felix Elysium jam nemus aspicit 
Frater, Parca truci quern rapuit manu, 

Et possessa beatis 

Umbris rura perambulat. 
Hie sunt virginei cum cytharis chori. 
Hie est arcitenens cum pharetra puer : 

Passim lilia, passim 

Rubrae cum violis rosae. 
Hasc nos rura manent ; hoc nemus incolet 
Quisquis perpetuis fervet amoribus ; 

Quisquis pectore molJi 

Inclusas aluit faces. 
Ergo jam querulis parce doloribus, 
Neu moestis violes funera fletibus : 

Vivum, Milphia, vulgus 

Plores, si sapias magis. 



Ah ! cease to weep, let sorrow's storm 
No more that blooming cheek deform, 
Nor beat that snowy breast, nor tear 
With cruel hand thy golden hair. 

A flower cut off in early bloom, 
Thy brother met his timeless doom, ; 



FRACASTORIUS. 463 

early periods of the revival of letters. Their 
titles are borrowed from the names of the 
speakers. The " De Animi Dialogus " is 
denominated " Fracastorius ; " the treatise 
" De Poetic^, " is intituled " Naugerius;" 
and the books " De Intellectione," have the 
title of '* Turrius." A young man, in the 
character of a minstrel, who is supposed to be 
more especially subject to the authority of 
Naugerius, sings to his lyre the verses that 
are occasionally introduced. The pretence is 
merely relaxation from severer thought ; and 
the poems are often unconnected with the main 
subject. 

Fracastor maintained a literary intercourse 
with many of the most distinguished charac7 
ters of the times. Besides those already enu- 
merated, Bembo and Flaminio were in the 
number of his poetical friends. Giovanni 
Matteo Giberti, bishop of Verona, and Cardi- 
nal Alessandro Farnese, with others of the 



Yet still blest youth he lives, he roves, 
With happiest shades, the Elysian groves. 

He joins amid* that choral throng, 
While love presides, the dance, the song; 
Where strewn profuse, the violet blows, 
The lily pale, the blushing rose. 

We too, ere long those joys shall share. 
We too — and every faithful pair 
Whose bosoms glow with fond desire, 
Who nurse like us the secret fire. 



Then for the dead, with fruitless woe, 
Let no untimely sorrows flow ; 
Strangers to ties that life endear, 
The insensate living claim the tear. 




464 



MEMOIRS Of 



torii supradict. 



I 



highest rank and station, assiduously culti- 
vated his friendship. To several of these dig- 
nified personages we find him addressing vari- 
ous of his poems ; to the latter he dedicated 
some of his medical works. 

Averse from the ceremony and tumult of 
a public life, he had a peculiar predilection 
for retirement, and passed a great part of his 
time at his villa in the neighbourhood of Ve- 
rona. Of this seat, Fracastor's biographer has 
in vita Fracas- given us a pleasing description. It was situ- 
ated in a range of hills about fifteen miles from 
Verona, between the Athesis, (Adige) and 
Benacus, (Lago di Garda). " Here, " (says 
he) " after a moderate ascent, is seen the 
villa of Fracastor, in the midst of a level 
ground, yet so elevated as to command a view 
of the lake. The house is plain, and has little 
to boast from artificial ornament ; but much 
from the natural beauty of its situation. It is 
of a square form, with an open aspect on every 
side except the north. On the east, on which 
part the Adige rolls its rapid current, hasten- 
ing from the interiour of Germany, and laves 
the foot of the mountain, it commands a view 
of Verona ; with innumerable villas scattered 
here and there on the subjacent plain. Herds 
and flocks grazing add to the picturesque 
beauty of the scene ; which is still heightened 
by the smoke of the scattered habitations seen 
most distinctly towards evening. On the 
west, the appearance of the Lago di Garda, 
is no less pleasing. Here hills rising in alter- 
nate succession meet the view ; here the some- 
times disturbed and tumultuous billows of the 
lake ; — the charming peninsula of Catullus ; — 
vessels with expanded sails; and fishing- barks 



FRACASTORIUS. 465 

seen approaching from a remote distance; and 
numerous towns and hamlets seated on the 
sunny promontories. Beneath lies Bardoleno; 
its declivity crowned with olives and orange- 
trees ; the hilly summits here embrowned with 
shady woods ; there spreading a green and 
luxuriant pasture. The damp unwholesome 
winds from the south, are warded off by an 
orchard of the choicest fruit trees, so arranged 
as to form a skreen to the villa ; while mount 
Baldo on the north, towering behind, protects 
it from the rigorous blasts of winter. This 
delightful retreat possesses therefore a double 
advantage. In the heat of summer, it is 
agreeably ventilated by cool and refreshing 
breezes which temper the fervour of the air ; — 
in winter, it is exposed only to the enlivening 
rays of the sun, and a clear sky. The Lago 
di Garda, has in common with the sea this 
property ; it never freezes ; and as it were re- 
sists and mollifies the severity of winter. Its 
abundance of fish adds much to its other ad- 
vantages. " 

" Such" (says he) " is the mansion fur- 
nished with apartments adapted to summer or 
winter, that so often admitted into its beloved 
recesses our Girolamo. Here was he accus- 
tomed to enjoy the conversation of his friends. 
Here he found that tranquillity and rural se- 
clusion equally propitious to the muses and to 
severer studies ; and here he produced many 
of those works which spread his celebrity 
throughout Europe, and covered his brow 
with the wreath of fame." 

Fracastor himself, in a poetical epistle tq 
one of his friends, agreeably describes the 
same favourite retreat ; and enters into a 
3 o 









466 MEMOIRS OF 

pleasing and rational detail of the employments 
and recreations in which he passed his se- 
cluded hours. 



AD FRANCISCUM TURRIANUM VERONENSEM. 

II 

Turri ! si aut mihi villa et lar sit Jaetior, aut tu 
Ferre domum tenuem possis, parvosque Penates 
Urbe procul ruri sese abscondentis amici, 
Quantum egote his mecum caphiis in montibus optem, 
Montibus his, ubi, si querula? nemora alta cicada? 
Non rumpant, equidera vix norim aestatis adesse 
Tempora, tarn leni mitescit Julius aura. 

Sed quid, si est angusta domus, dum pulvere et omni 

Munda situ : dum sit nullo turbata tumultu, 

Nescia curarum, nullius conscia culpa? : 

Alta ubi per totum sit pax, et arnica Camcenis 

Otia, et integri per magna silentia somni ? 

Quid refert, alius minio laquearia rubra 

Si inspicere, ipse velim fuligine nigra videre ? 

Si non dejectum coelo Jovis igne Typhoea, 

Terrigenasque alios, spirantia signa, videbis 

Admirans opus aeterni memorabile Iuli, 

At bona Libertas aderit, quae rura beata 

Praecipue insequitur, simplexque incedit et exlex. 

Hie tibi, si paulo digitus sit inunctior, aut si 

Potanti insonuit cyathus, vel si pede utroque 

Non steteris, nemo objiciet, nemoque sedentem 

Arguet, hoc illi si fors super incubuit crus. 

Stare, sedere, esse ex libito, et potare licebit. 

Forsitan et, mihi quid vita?, quid sit studiorum, 
N6sse optas, quo vel damnes, vel singula laudes. 
Mane venit, juvat Auroram Solemque videre 



FRACASTORIUS. 467 



Nascentem, qui non alio consurgit Eoo 
Pulchrior, uncle nova laetantur singula luce, 
Et sylvae, scopulique, et pictis nubibus aer. 
Parte alia Benacum alto de colle saluto, 
Centum cui virides invergunt flumina Nymphae : 
Ipse sinu magno genitor magno excipit amne. 
Turn juvat aut spectare boves mugitibus alta 
Complentes nemora, aut pulsas in pascua capras. 
Prae caper it, cui barba jubat, cui cornua pendent 
Intorta, et grandes olido de corpore seta?. 
Pone gregem reliquam compellit arundine virgo 
Upilio, multo armantur cui baltea fuso. 
Interea natos discentes rustica amare 
Numina, vicini nemoris gelidam voco in umbram, 
Qui libros, qui secum horae solatia portent. 
Hie legitur, viridique thoro, saxove sedetur 
Glandifera sub fago, aut castanea hirsuta. 
At varise circum sylvis, et frondibus altis 
Assueta? ludunt volucres, atque aethera mulcent. 
Turn densum nemus, atque umbras per gramina laeta 
Jejunas nos invitant spatiarier horas. 
At fessi haec inter pueri sitiuntque, dolentque 
Plus aequo retineri, et jam Musasque, librosque, 
Et Pana, et gelidi pinus odere Lycasi. 
Ergo prascurrere, et aquas, et vina pararunt 
Lucenti in vitro, et flores sparsere nitentes. 
Advenio : primas atro lita mora cruore, 
Aut grossi mensas ineunt, cors caetera, et hortus 
Sufficit. Interea crebro sonat area pulsu, 
Increpitat seges, et duri sub Sole coloni 
Alternis terram feriunt, et adorea flagris. 
Fit clamor, resonat tellus rupesque propinquae, 
Et paleae sursum strepitu jactantur inanes : 
Laeta Ceres alto ridens despectat Olympo. 
Umbra diem reliquum, somnus, librique, viaeque 
Producunt, dum siccam aestu Canis excoquit urbem. 
Verum, ubi caeruleis serus sese extulit undis 
3 o 2 




\ 




468 MEMOIRS OF 

Vesper, et in coelum surgentia sidera vexit, 
Vicina e specula magni admirator Olympi, 
Alta rupe sedens natis astra omnia raonstro : 
Accendoque animos patriae coelestis amore. 
Illi admirari, et cognoscere sidera discunt, 
Cepheaque, Arctonque, et servantem plaustra Bootem. 

Haec ergo praeferre urbi, et contemnere magna 
Si possis, quid te teneat, ne tu ocyus ad nos 
Accurras ? etiam has sedes, haec limina magnus 
Navgerus subiit, nee dedignatus adire est 
Battus amor Musarum, ipsum quo tempore primum 
Pana, atque antiquos cecinit Telluris amores. 



TO FRANCISCUS TURRIANUS OF VERONA. 

If these small Lares any charms afford, 
Nor you disdain to grace our humble board, 
While far from cities I my footsteps bend, 
Here let me prove the endearments of a friend 
Mid' Caphian hills, where freshening gales assuage 
The noon-tide heat, and calm the dog-star's rage ; 
But that our groves with chirping insects ring, 
I ne'er had mark'd the fleeting lapse of spring. 

— What, though my mansion rise not proudly great, 
It boasts in neatness, what it wants in state. 
Here too, no jars, nor din of noisy arms, 
Nor care intrude, nor conscious guilt alarms. 
Here peaceful solitude the muse befriends, 
Soothes us awake, and on our sleep attends. 
What, if my ceiling boast no painted dies, 
Nor fear the innoxious dust that round it flies ; 



FRACASTORIUS. 46$ 



If chissel'd by the immortal sculptor's hand, 
No busts surprise, nor breathing statues stand ; 
Here Freedom dwells, that loves the rural plains, 
And wide expatiates in her own domains ; 
Here acts, absolv'd from modish fashion's school, 
Nor moves in measur'd steps, nor stands by rule ; 
But drinks at pleasure, and reclines at ease, 
No laws to trammel, and no fops to tease. 

Perchance, each action free to praise or blame. 
Of my lone hours a due account you claim. 
Forth from my home at earliest dawn I stray, 
And catch the glories of the opening day, 
Where Sol's gay beam the face of nature chears, 
Who in no scene a lovelier aspect wears. — 
Brown woods, and towering cliffs salute his rise, 
And rain-bow lustres tinge the illumin'd skies. 
— Benacus next my early notice claims, 
His hundred nymphs, and tributary streams : 
Pleas'd, I remark his banks with verdure gay, 
Where wandering flocks, and lowing oxen stray. — 
Here the rough goat, with bearded honours, leads 
His unpenn'd followers to the dewy meads : — 
The rustic dame each straggler lorn, behind 
Compels, nor yet her housewife task resign'd. 

Next, taught the sylvan scenery to approve, 
I call my offspring to the neighbouring grove ; 
While each a volume bears of learned lore, 
Delightful solace of the winged hour. 
Here read, where nature forms a verdant seat, 
And beech or chesnut yields a cool retreat ; 
As flit from bough to bough the aerial throng, 
And the woods echo to their varied song. 

Now, where deep shades exclude the solar ray, 
A lengthen'd walk beguiles the advancing day, 



470 



MEMOIRS OF 




Till my tir'd charge of hunger's call complains, 
Whose rage, not Pan, nor the lov'd Muse restrains. 
They run before, and with assiduous care, 
Pour the pure lymph, the sparkling wines prepare. 
The gay board smiles, with flow'rs and fruitage drest, 
The coop, and frugal garden yield the rest. 



Mean-time, in measur'd strokes the flail resounds, 
And with loud echoes from the floor rebounds, — 
While mid' the heat the sinewy rustic plies 
Alternate labour, and the light chaff flies; 
From high Olympus, Ceres marks their toils, 
And crowns each effort with benignant smiles. 

Light slumbers, skreen'd from sol's oppressive ray, 
Or studious converse lengthen out the day. — 
These, and the short excursion, please by turns, 
While your parch'd city flaming Sirius burns. 



When Hesper, rising from the azure main, 
Through fields of aether leads his shining train, 
The accustom'd cliff", my eager feet ascend, 
And his young charge their parent's steps attend. 
Thence, widely scattered o'er the blue serene, 
I shew the glories of the ethereal scene ; 
Exalt their youthful aims to heights sublime, 
And wake their ardour for the heavenly clime ; 
While strong desire each glowing breast inflames 
To mark their courses, and recount their names. 



—Yon city's tumult, and the pride of state 
Contemns my friend ? such joys on you await. 
Ah, why not hasten to these haunts, long prov'd 
To friendship sacred, and by virtue lov'd. 
Naugerius here in pleasing converse stray 'd ; 
Here our own Battus tun'd his sylvan reed, 



FRACASTORIUS. 471 

By every muse belov'd, — an honour'd name ; 
Here Pan he sung, and Tellus* ancient flame. 

/ 

Fracastor was fond of music, in which he 
was a proficient. He was habitually of a 
thoughtful turn of mind ; a man of few words; 
of the strictest temperance ; a remarkable ma- 
nager of his time, no part of which he suffered 
to pass unimproved. 

In his latter years his attachment to privacy 
and retirement seemed to increase, and he 
wished to relinquish the practice of physic, 
and resign himself to the pleasures of friend- 
ship, and the free pursuits of literature. A 
passage declarative of this disposition occurs 
among some verses addressed by him to his 
illustrious friend the bishop of Verona, (f) 



(f) Giovanni Matteo Giberti was born at Pa- 
lermo ; but his father Francesco was a Genoese, and com- 
mander of the pope's naval forces. In his youth Giberti 
distinguished himself in the literary court of Leo X. Cle- 
ment VII. appointed him bishop of Verona at an early age ; 
but as he was long resident at Rome, or employed on mis- 
sions of the highest importance to the ecclesiastical state, 
Piero Caraffi, afterwards Paul IV. was deputed to manage 
the concerns of his bishopric. At length, in the pontificate 
of Paul III. Giberti retired to his diocese, where his pub- 
lic and private virtues rendered him an ornament to his 
station. His palace was always open to men of learning, 
whether Italians or strangers ; and a considerable part of his 
great revenues was munificently employed in the encourage- 
ment of letters. He was a liberal patron of Greek litera- 
ture. New Greek types were cast at his expense. He 
employed under his own roof a number of persons in tran- 
scribing MSS. and defrayed the charge of pubushing several 
excellent editions of the works of the Greek fathers. {Maffei.) 
This public spirited prelate is deservedly celebrated in the 
'* Galateo" of Casa. He is the subject of the poem of Bem- 
bus, entitled " Benacus ? and various other contemporary 



472 MEMOIRS OF 



AD JO. MATT. GIBERTUM EPISCOPUM VERONENSEM, 

Naiades hoc Giberte, tibi Benacides antrum, 

Et qui muscoso fons cadit e lapide 
Sacravere ; tibi sit cura et fontis et antri : 

Et quandoque Deus(g) ad tua sacra veni. 



poets have paid him the tribute of praise which he so well 
merited. The works of Giberti with his life, appear to 
have been published Verona, 1733, and Hostilice, 1736. 

(g) The ** productio syllabas brevis, in caesura,'' is a 
license of which the ancients evidently made most frequent 
use in Heroic verse. Messrs. de Port-Royal have adduced 
an instance of it in the following Sapphic of Ausonius: 

" Tertius horum mihi non magister :" 
and in this Phaleucian of Statius : 

" Quo non dignior has subit habenas." 

We also read, Horat, C arm. Lib. iii. ode v. v. 17. 

" Si non periret immiserabilis/' 

Upon which Sanadon has the following remark : " On pour- 
roit croire que le Poete a mis ici un iambe au troisie'me 
pied, ce qui etoit assez ordinaire chez les Grecs : mais 
comme les Latins n' ont pas recu toutes les liberies de la 
Poesie Grecque, & que celle-ci ne se trouve ni dans Stace, 
ni dans Prudence, j' aime mieux dire qu* Horace a allonge* 
ici la derniere sillabe de periret, a cause qu' elle se trouve 
en cesure. Aussi est-ce la seule fois qu' il a emploie' cette 
licence dans le verse Alcaique." (Les Poesies d } Horace, 
avec des remarques, fyc. torn. iii. p. 294, a Paris, 1756, in 
12moJ 

It rarely occurs in pentameter verse, and perhaps no 
writer on the laws of Latin metrical composition has adduced 
an indisputable classical instance of it. Tibullus indeed has 
two examples which seem to authorise the use of such a 
license here also. The first occurs, Oper. Lib. i. Eleg. vii. 
v. 72. 



Quidquit agat sanguis est tamen ilia tuus." 



FRACASTORIUS. 473 



Et sacer est, et habet spirantes suaviter auras 

Hortus : et est nullo gratior umbra loco : 
Et nusquam est longaeva mage, et felicior arbos 

Puleher Adoni tua ; puleher Apollo, tua. 
Hie canere, et tenuem posse exercere Camoenam 

Ulededit: sanctus qui mihi semper erit. 
Hie herbas, succosque tuos, artemque relinquo 

Phoebe : soles Musas tu quoque amare magis. 



For thee the Nymphs this sacred Grot 
Have built : to thee its streams resign, 

Its oozy arch with moss o'ergrown, 

Their hands arrang'd, they call'd it thine. 

Then let the place thy kind regard 
Obtain : thy frequent presence share : 

Thy temple own : for thee the shrine 
We deck ; for thee the rites prepare. 

Within this garden's hallowed bound 
Gay flow'rets that perennial bloom, 

With fragrant incense scent the gale, 
Diffusing wide a rich perfume. 

Lo ! where to form a grateful shade, 

Commingling trees their boughs entwine ; 



Consult however Broukhusius, in his note on this passage. 
The second instance is found in Lib. ii. Eleg. iv. v. 38. 

" Fecit ut infamis hie Deus esset Amor/' 

Such a license is notwithstanding frequently used in the 
structure of the pentameter by Fracastor and other poets of 
his age, by whom perhaps, the strict laws of Latin metrical 
composition had not as yet been precisely ascertained. 

3 P 







474 MEMOIRS OF 

In no lov'd site such verdure crowns 
Phoebus ! thy tree : Adonis ! thine. 

Here given to tune my slender reed, 
PiEAN I I leave the healing lore ; 

Thy potent herbs, and skill resign : — 
Even thou too lov'st the Muses more. 



Fracastor died August, 1553, of an apo- 
plexy with which he was seized as he sat at 
dinner, in his villa of Incaffi before described. 

Statues of brass were erected at Padua to 
the memory of this celebrated scholar, and of 
his friend Andreas Naugerius, (Ji) in a situa- 






{h) Andreas Naugerius a Venetian of patrician 
rank, was born A. D. 1483. He acquired the rudiments of 
Latin literature from M. Ant. Cocceius Sabellicus, a pro- 
fessor of that language at Venice. He studied Greek at 
Padua, under Marcus Musurus, a Cretan. To his own su- 
periour taste and judgment he was indebted for that appro- 
priate selection of terms and that accuracy of style which 
characterise his Latin compositions : and of which his funeral 
elogies on Livianus the Venetian general, and the prince of 
Loretto, are distinguished instances. A like fastidiousness 
(as it were) of discrimination, led him to reject in his own 
epigrams, compositions in which he excelled, the keen and 
pungent close which Martial generally affects, and to imitate 
the delicacy and sweetness of Catullus : " adeo Martiali 
severus hostis, ut quotannis, stato die Musis dicato, multa 
ejus volumina, tanquam impura, cum execratione Vulcano 
dicarentur." He cultivated Italian poesy in his youth, with 
equal success, Naugerius attended his friend Livianus in 
some of his military expeditions, partly with a view to re- 
lieve himself by this active mode of life from indisposition 
brought on by too close application to his studies. Ever 
anxious to promote the interests of his country, he sustained 
the character of her ambassador to Charles V. when the 
Italian states began to take the alarm at that monarch's ap- 
parent projects of aggrandisement. Having afterwards been 
deputed on a like mission to Francis I, too great solicitude 



FRACASTORIUS. 475 

tion much frequented by the students and 
professors of the university ; that they might 



to fulfil the object of his misjion, was perhaps fatal to him. 
After travelling with great speed to France, he had scarce 
paid his respects to the monarch, when seized with a fever 
at BJois, he died A. D. 1529, in his forty-sixth year. (Fid. 
Jovium in Elvgiis.) 

When this scholar was nominated by the senate of Ve- 
nice historiographer of his native country, though only in 
the thirty-secona year of his age, he wa< deemed the most 
elegantr writer of Latin that Italy could boast. Foscarini 
( della Letteratura Veneziana) cites an interesting passage of 
the decree (dello Consiglio di Died) on this occasion, which 
bears date 30 di Geimajo 1515: and adds, that Navagero 
having composed ten books of his history, carried the MS. 
with him, in his embassy to France, in the discharge of 
which he ended his days. It was committed by his own. 
hands to the flames, a few hours before his death ; but whe- 
ther in the delirious paroxysm of a fever, or with cool deli- 
beration, is not fully ascertained. Foscarini thinks it was a 
deliberate act, many of his poems having shared a like fate, 
confessedly because they fell short of that standard of excel- 
lence which he had formed in his own mind ; or had been 
composed after models which he deemed ill chosen. Witness 
his epigram entitled 

VOTA ACMONIS VULCANO. 

Has, Vulcane, dicat silvas tibi villicus Acmon : 

Tu sacris illas ignibus ure, pater. 
Crescebant dueta e Statii propagine silvis : 

Jamque erat ipsa bonis frugibus umbra nocens. 
Ure simul silvas : terra simul igne soluta. 

Fertilior largo foenore messis eat. 
Ure istas: Phrygio nuper mihi consita colle 

Fac, pater, a flammis tuta sit ilia tuis. 
(Vide Carm. A. Naugerii Oper. p. 19 1. Patav, 1718, in Ato.J 

But let us hear the testimony of " il Cardinal Valiero" on 
this head, " nella sua grande opera inedita," cited by Fos- 
carini in the work above-mentioned, p. 251, note 77. 

" Accidit Navagerio res, quae vobis (parla a* suoi nipoti) 
et Venetis omnibus dolorem pariet. Nam quum ei Decem- 

3 P 2 



I 

\ 









476 



MEMOIRS OF 









serve as continual mementos of these distin- 
guished persons, and incentives^to the pursuit 



virum jussu onus esset injunctum conscribendae Historiae 
Rerum Venetarum, tanta vi morbi agitatus est, ut quod 
plerisque acutis morbis laborantibus solet accidere, mentis 
inops effectus, Historiam a se p^rbelle contextam eodem 
ipso, quo expiravit, die suis manibus in ignem projectam 
cremaret. Fueruntqui dicerent, sic de sua Historia judicasse 
Navagerium, quia mediocri laude non erat contentus, quia 
acerrimo praestabat ingenio, quia suis scriptis, etsi omnibus 
satisfaciebat, sibi tamen satisfacere non consueverat." (De 
Util. cap. ex. reb. gest. Venet. Lib. x. cap. ix. p. 440. Mss. 
n. xxx vi. J 

The Latin poems of Naugerius at present extant are few 
in number, but the exquisitely polished and classical manner 
in which they are finished, has peculiarly recommended them 
to the esteem of his learned countrymen. 

Several of his epigrams have been selected for imitation 
in the Italian language, by writers of the most approved 
credit. His beautiful verses, entitled " Invitatio ad amae- 
num Fontem," gave occasion to the no less beautiful sonnet 
of Luigi Tansillo, which follows ; and serves to evince the 
close alliance which as we have before observed, was 
considered to exist between these two species of poetical 
composition : 

E freddo eil fonte, e chiare, e crespe ha 1' onde : 

E molli erbe verdeggian d' ogn' intorno : 

E '1 platano co i rami, e '1 salce, e V orno 

Scaccian Febo, che '1 crin talor ci asconde : 
E 1' aura appena le piu lievi fronde 

Scuote, si dolce spira al bel soggiorno : 

Ed e '1 rapido Sol sul mezzo giorno : 

E versan fiamme le campagne bionde. 
Fermate sovra Y umido smeraldo, 

Vaghe Ninfe, i bei pie, ch' oltra ir non ponno ; 

Si stanche, ed arse al corso, ed al Sol siete. 
Dara ristoro alia slanchezza il sonno ; 

Verde ombra, ed aura refrigerio al caldo : 

E le vive acque spegneran la sete. 

(Oper. N auger ii supra d. p. 2§2>.) 
Naugerius was distinguished for his skill in Greek litera- 



FRACASTORIUS. 477 

of literary eminence. A similar testimony of 
respect was paid to their illustrious country- 
man, by the citizens of Verona, where a sta- 
tue was erected to his memory, with the fol- 
lowing inscription : 

HIERONYMO FRACASTORIO PAULLI PHILIPPI F. 
EX PUBLICA AUCTORITATE ANNO MDLIX, 

Fracastors death was lamented in an ode 
with which Joannes Baptista Amaltheus ho- 
noured his memory. His biographer has re- 
corded the following verses of AdamusFumanus 
on the same subject : 

Longe vir unus omnium doctissimus, 
Verona per quem non Marones Mantua, 



ture. He was an especial admirer of Pindar, whose works 
he more than once transcribed with his own hand. It is to 
Aldus Manutius that we owe this information. (Vide Epist. 
ejus ad Naugerium.J In no point of view does Naugenus 
appear with greater interest than in his intercourse with 
Aldus. He was a zealous encourager of that learned print- 
er's labours; and by his exhortations the latter was princi- 
pally induced to persevere in them under great difficulties 
and discouragements. He diligently revised, and by a com- 
parison of various MSS. corrected the texts of Lucretius, 
Virgil, Horace, Tibullus, Quintilian, and especially of Cicero, 
and the assistance which Aldus derived from his critical skill 
was such as the learned must always gratefully acknowledge. 
In inscribing to Naugerius by a most interesting preface, 
the volume which comprizes the Rhetorica Ciceronis, printed 
Venetiis, anno 1514, in 8vo, Aldus testified the high sense 
which he entertained of these obligations ; and of all his 
learned dedicatory epistles, none perhaps is capabie of af- 
fording the reader more ample gratification. 

A life of Naugerius, written with great eloquence by 
Vulpius, is prefixed to the before-mentioned edition of his 
works, printed Paiavii, 1718, in 4to. which is one of the 
most splendid productions of the Comini press. 



478 MEMOIRS OF 



Nee nostra priscis invident jam saecula, 
Virtute summam consecutus gloriam, 
Jamgrandis aevo, hie conditur Fracastorius, 
Ad tristem acerbae mortis ejus nuncium 
Vicina flevit ora; fierunt ultimas 
Gentes, periisse musicorum candidum 
Florem, optimarum et lumen artium omnium. 



Verona's offspring, happy in whose praise, 
Mantua ! she envies not thy Virgil's bays, 
While to her wondering ken, his glowing page 
Reeals the beauties of the Augustan age, 
With weight of glory, and of years opprest, 
Here sleeps Fr^ castor ! here his ashes rest ! 
Fame speaks ; — surrounding realms his loss deplore, 
Nor uniamenting hears each distant shore: 
All mourn the man whom all acknowledg'd long 
The light of science, and the flower of song. 

Perhaps the productions of no modern poet 
have been more commended by the learned, 
than those of Fracastor. His poems are in 
general written with a spirit which never de- 
generates into insipidity. But on his " Syphi- 
lis" the high poetical reputation of Fracastor 
is principally founded. Sannazarius on reading 
this poem, declared that he thought it superior 
to any thing produced by himself, or his 
learned contemporaries. From this celebrated 
performance the reader is presented with a 
short extract, wherein the author allegorically 
alludes to the cause of that disease which is 
the subject of the poem, agreeably to the 
notion then prevalent, that it was the effect 
of an impure atmosphere ; and ingeniously 



FRACASTORIUS. 479 

points out the specific found efficacious in 
arresting its baneful progress 

Ilceus, an inoffensive inhabitant of the 
pastoral scenes of Syria, afflicted with a malady 
of which he knows neither the cause nor the 
cure, prays for relief to the rural deities, and 
especially to Callirhoe, the nymph who is Fracastorii Sy- 
supposed to preside over a fountain remarkable i >bilis « Libii * 

r rr i i* • i l ii- t • ^V. 284etseqq. 

for the medicinal and salubrious qualities of 
its waters. Ilceus has just concluded his in- 
vocation, and the poem thus proceeds : 



Sic fatus, ut aestu 



Fessus erat, viridi desedit graminis herba. 
Hie Dea, vicino quae sese fonte lavabar, 
Callirhoe liquido ex antro per lubrica musco 
Saxa fluens, juyeni dulci blandita susurro, 
Lethaeum immisit somnum, sparsitque sopore 
Graminea in ripa, & salicum nemus inter opacum : 
Atque illi visa est sacro se flumine tollens 
In somnis coram esse : pia & sic voce loquuta. 
"Ilceu in extremo Diis tandem audite labore, 
Cura mei, tibi nulla salus quacunque videt Sol 
Speranda est terram magnam super. Hoc tibi pcenae 
Dat Trivia, & precibus Triviae exoratus Apollo, 
Ob sacrum jaculo percussum ad flumina Cervum, 
Et nostris affixa tibi capita liorrida truncis. 
Nam postquam ilia feram exanimem per gramina vidit 
Abscisso capite, & sacro sparsa arva cruore, 
Omnibus ingemuit sylvis, dirumque precata est 
Authori. Oranti Latous tanta sorori 
AfFuit : & pestem misero immisere nefandam 
Durus uterque tibi: quin & quacunque videt Sol, 
Interdixit opem. Quare tellure sub ima, 
Siqua salus superest, caeca sub nocte petenda est. 
Est specus arboribus tectum, atque horrore verendum 
Vicina sub rupe, Jovis qua plurima syiva 



: 



[ 




480 MEMOIRS OF 

Accubat, & raucum reddit coma cedria murmur. 
Hue, ubi se primis Aurora emittet ab undis, 
Ire para : & nigrantem ipsis in faueibus agnam 
Mactato supplex, atque Ops tibi maxima, die, hanc, 
Die, ferio. Nigram turn noctem, unibrasque silentes, 
Umbrarumque Deos, ignotaque numina Nymphas 
Et Thy a venerare, atrae & nidore cupressi. 
Hie tibi narranti causam, auxiliumque vocanti 
Haud aberit Dea, quae caecae in penetralia terrae 
Deducat te sancta, & opem tibi sedula praestet. 
Surge age : nee vani speciem tibi concipe somni. 
Ilia ego sum, quae culta vago per pinguia fonte 
Dilabor, Dea vicinis tibi cognita ab undis." 
Sic ait : & se caeruleo cita condidit amne. 

Ille autem, ut placidus cessit sopor, omina Isetus 
Accipit : & Nympham precibus veneratur amicam. 
" O ! sequor, O ! quocunque vocas, pulcherrima fontis 
Vicini Dea Callirhoe/' Turn postera primum 
Exurgens Aurora, suos ubi protulit ortus, 
Monstratum Jovis in sylva sub rupibus aitis 
Antrum ingens petit, & nigrantem tergora primo 
Vestibulo sistit pecudem, magnaeque trementem 
Mactat Opi : tibique, inquit, ego hanc Ops maxima macto. 
Turn Noctem, noctisque Deas, ignota preeatur 
Numina: jamque simul Thyan, atramque Cupressum 
Urebal: quum vox terrae revoluta cavern is 
Longe audita sacras Nympharum perculit aures : 
Nympharum, quibus aera solo sunt condita cura?, 
Extemplocommotae omnes, ac ccepta reponunt, 
Sulfureos forte ut latices, & flumina vivi 
Argenti, mox unde nitens concresceret aurum, 
Tractabant, gelidoque premtntes fonte coquebant. 
Centum ignis spissi radios, centum aetheris usti, 
Bis centum concretorum terraeque, marisque 
Miscuerant, nostros fugientia semina visus. 

At Lipare, Lipare, argenti cui semina & auri 
Cura data, & sacrum flammis adolere bitumen, 






wmm 



FRACASTORIUS. 481 

Continud obscurat latebrosa per avia terrae 
Ucea adit, firmansque animum sic incipit ipsa: 

Ilceu (namque tuum nee nomen, nee mihi labfes 
Ignota est, nee quid venias) jam corde timorem 
Exue : nequicquam non te hue charissima mittit 
Callirhoe ; tibi parta salus tellure sub ima est. 
Tolle animos : & me per opaca silentia terrae 
Insequere ; ipsa adero, & praesenti numine ducam.* 
Sic ait : & se antro gradiens praemittit opaco. 
Ille subit, magnos terrae miratus hiatus, 
Squallentesque situ aetemo, & sine lumine vastas 
Speluncas, terramque meantia flumina subter. 
Turn Lipare : hoc quodcunque patet, quam maxima terra 

est, 
Hunc totum sine luce globum, loca subdita nocti, 
Dii habitant : imas retinet Proserpina sedes : 
Flumina supremas : quae sacris concita ab antris 
In mare per latas abeunt resonantia terras. 
In medio dites Nymphae, genera unde metalli, 
jErisque, argentique, aurique nitentis origo : 
Quarum ego nunc ad te miserans ipsa una sororum 
Advenio, ilia ego, quae venas per montis hiantes, 
Callirhoe haud ignota tuae, fumantia mitto 
Sulfura. Sic ibant terra, & caligine tecti, 
Jamque exaudiri crepitantes sulfure flammae, 
Conclusique ignes, stridentiaque aera caminis. 
Haec regio est late variis ubi foeta metallis, 
Virgo ait, est tellus, quorum vos tanta cupido 
Exercet, superas cceli qui cernitis auras. 
Haec loca mille Deae caecis habitamus in antris : 
Nocte Deae & Tellure satae, queis munera mille, 
Mille artes. Studium est aliis deducere rivos : 
Scintillas aliis rimari, & sparsa per omnem 
Semina tellurem flammarum, ignisque corusci 
Materiam miscent alia? : massamque coercent 
Obicibus, multa & gelidarum inspergine aquarum, 
Non procul eruptis fumantia tecta caminis 
3 Q 




482 



MEMOIRS OF 

JElnxi Cyclopes habent, versantque, coquuntque 
Vufcano stridente, atque sera sonantia cudunt. 
Laeva baec abstrusum per iter via ducit ad illos : 
Dextera sed sacri fluvii te sistet ad undam, 
Argento fluitantem undam, vivoque raetallo : 
Unde salus speranda. Et jam aurea tecta subibant, 
Rorantesque domos spodiis, fuligineque atra 
Speluncas varie obductas, & sulfure glauco. 
Jamque lacus late undantes, liquidoque fluentes 
Argento juxta astabant, ripasque tenebant. 
Hie tibi tantorum requies inventa laborum, 
Subsequitur Lip a re, postquam ter flumine vivo 
Perfusus, sacra vitium omne reliqueris unda. 
Sic fatur : simul argenti ter fonte salubri 
Perfundit : ter virgineis dat flumina palmis 
Membra super : juvenem toto ter corpore lustrat. 



He said ; and near the welling fount reclin'd, 
To its green verge his fainting limbs consign'd. 
Callirhoe hears, as in her mossy caves 
Glittering with lucid springs, the Goddess laves : 
She bids her stream, that murmurs as it flows 
O'er the bright pebbles, soothe him to repose, 
Deepens the gloom, and deigns herself to shed 
Oblivious slumbers round his drooping head : 
Then soft emerging from the sacred stream, 
Him thus address'd conspicuous in his dream : 
'« O Ilceus ! doom'd a weight of woes to bear, 
" Yet dear to Gods, and my peculiar care, 
" Hope no relief,— expos'd to Phoebus' sight 
" Where earth's wide surface hails his golden light ; 
" Health he denies, by Dian's prayer deterr'd, 
" Who mourns the monarch of her widow'd herd, 






mammmmmmmmmmm ii n, ■ ■ ;U p . . ■ ■ « ■■ ' ■ 



FRACASTORITJS. 483 



•* Slain by thy hand, no more at large he roves, 

" Since his proud antlers deck these hallow'd groves : 

" Trivia descried her favorite's gory wound, 

" She saw his sever'd honours stain the ground, 

■* And soon her tears, and agonizing cries 

" Mov'd to revenge the Pow'r that rules the skies. 

" His angry shafts atone Diana's grieii 

*f He wing'd the pest, 'tis he denies relief. 

" Then far remote from Sol's resplendent ray, 

u Beneath his influence, and these scenes of day, 

" If health remain, expect the precious aid, 

*• From Night's deep caverns and the realms of shade. 

" Where nods tremendous many a tree of Jove, 

" And many a cedar fills yon stately grove, 

" 'Mid deepest glooms, with murmuring horrors crown'd, 

" A rocky cave expands its jaws profound. 

" Against the morrow, let thy early care 

" A tender lamb of sablest fleece prepare. — 

" Even in the entrance shall the victim fall, 

" Be thine on Ops, with solemn rites to call, 

u Dread Pow'r ! nor less to Night, and silent shades, 

e< And Nymphs unknown that haunt the darkling glades, 

" Let od'rous cypress feed the crackling flames, 

" And richest incense rise in cloudy steams. 

" So shall thy prayers and offerings duly paid 

" Excite a favouring Goddess to thy aid. 

" Be her's, to guide thee through the dark recess, 

" And with ambrosial health thy wishes bless. 

" Haste, 'tis a well known voice that bids thee rise, 

t( Nor think illusions mock thy slumbering eyes ; 

<e 'Tis I, the Nymph, that near this verdant mead, 

" Haunt the clear fount, and pour the bright cascade." 

She said ; — and sunk beneath the azure waves. 
The awakening youth the welcome voice perceives, 

3q2 









484 MEMOIRS OF 

Nor heedless of the kindly-omen'd dream, 
Adores the beauteous Goddess of the stream. 
Then said, " the grateful summons we obey, 
" And follow where Callirhoe points the way." 

And now, in light's perspicuous vest array'd, 

The orient morn her shining car display'd, 

When early sought the youth the umbrageous wood, 

And near the cave the trembling victim stood. 

Then he, " on Ops, tremendous Pow'r ! I call, 

'.' And bid to thee, this sable victim fall." 

Nor less, to Night, dread Queen ! and silent shades, 

And Powers that haunt, unseen, the secret glades, 

With fragrant cypress feeds the crackling flames, 

While cloudy odours rise in curling steams, 

And speaks the suppliant prayer, whose hollow sound 

Pervades the deep recesses of the ground : — 

Heard by the Nymphs that tend the brazen mine 

Sulphureous, — or the silver mass refine, 

Or thence precipitate the golden ore, 

And cool, with chymic art, the shining store : 

Each startled Pow'r the imperfect process stays^ 

Where denser fires, and aether's subtlest rays, 

Earth, water, air — their pregnant forms unite 

In mystic compound, baffling human sight. 

But Lip a re, whose hands, with nicest care A 
The apportion'd elemental seeds prepare 
Of future wealth — that unconcocted shine, 
And with bright flames the melting mass combine, 
Straight, from the cavern's deep recess appears, 
And thus the youth with gentle accents chears. 

" Ilceus ! for not unknown thy name, thy grief, 
" Nor ceaseless mourn, nor doubt the wish'd relief 
• " Dismiss thy fears, for hither not in vain 
"Callirhoe sends the promis'd boon to gain. 



FRACASTORIUS. 485 



" Attend my steps, while I securely lead 

" Through downward paths of ever-during shade." 

She said, and pierced the gloom ; the youth obeys, 
And wond'ring treads the labyrinthine ways, 
Where endless mists exclude the cheerful light, 
And rivers gliding lave the realms of night. 

Then she — " These caverns spacious and profound, 

ft The vast Earth hides within her concave bound. 

f< Night, and her kindred powers, these dark domains 

" Command ; the lowest Proserpine retains ; 

" But nearest day, the River-gods preside, 

/' Who from their antres pour the sounding tide ; 

" While in the midst, we rule the richer mine, 

f* And teach the metal's sparkling ore to shine. 

" Lo I, a sister of the alchemic train, 

" Lead through the mountain- steep the glittering vein j 

" My guiding hand sulphureous vapours own, 

" And toCALLiRHOE well my pow'r is known." 

Thus wrapt in night, they urge their downward way, 

Till the rich haunts sulphureous steams betray, 

Where liquid ores diffuse a livid light, 

And secret fires metallic waves excite. 

" And this the region, these the abodes profound," 

The virgin cried, " where shining ills abound. 

" For these, your mortal race of upper air, 

" Insatiate burn, and toil with ceaseless care. 

te A thousand deities here shun the light, 

" Virgins, from Tellus sprung, and aged Night. 

" Here, in unnumbered ways their skill employ'd, 

u Some teach the rich metallic stream to glide ; 

f* Some from earth's womb the ethereal spark require 

" That all pervades — and trace the secret fire ; 

" With circling bands the furnace some defend : 

" Some with cool lymph the chymic process tend= 



486 MEMOIRS OF 

"' Nor distant far, the iEtnean Cyclops shroud 
" Their gloom v caves in nigh f, s perpetual cloud; 
" And while eternal smoke the plact surrounds, 
" The fierce flame hisses, and the anvil rounds. 
" Thither, in secret leads the left-hand way ; 
" The right shall to the sacred stream convey : 
" Metallic stream, whose living waves, that flow 
" With lucid silver, life and health bestow." 
She said, and to her guest the region shew'd 
Where treasurM heaps in bright profusion glow'd, 
And boundless vaults the glittering stores contain'd, 
Their gloomy round with livid sulphur stain'd. 

Now seen the lake, whose undulations, bright 
With silvery gleams, arrest their dazzled sight ; 
With nearer steps the shining brink they gain ; 
And, " here a speedy cure awaits thy pain/' 
The Nymph subjoin'd ; — " within this argent wave 
" Thrice dipt, thy limbs shall all defilement leave."— 
Then thrice immers'd, and thrice around his head, 
The Nymph divine the silver liquid shed ; 
And thrice her fair hand, with lustrations due, 
O'er all his form the vivid metal threw. 



When the Emperor Charles V. going on 
a certain expedition, happened to pass by Pes- 
chiera, with a numerous and splendid retinue ; 
among the concourse of spectators assembled 
on this unusual occasion Fraeastor was point-, 
ed out to the monarch, who instantly stopped, 
more particularly to notice a person whom 
Vita Fracast. rumour had celebrated in terms of such un- 

siapr^dict. 

common praise. 

We find a solitary Italian poem of Fracas- 
tor, preserved in a scarce volume, entitled, 
" Rime di Diversi Nobilissimi, et Eccellen- 



FRACASTORIUS. 487 

tissimi Autori : " 8vo. printed in Venetia, 
1550. 



DI M. GIROLAMO FRACASTORO. 

Questi bianchi papaver, queste nere 
Viole Alcippo dona 
Al Sonno, e tesse una gentil corona 
Per lo soccorso, che sua Donna chere. 
Langue Madonna, e ne begliocchi suoi 
Sonno ti chier, che ristorar la puoi ; 
PJacido Sonno solo 
D' ogni fatica, e duolo 
Pace, e del mondo universal quiete, 
Te ne* 1 ombra di Lethe 
Creo la Notte, e empio 
Di dolcezza, e d' oblio 
D* ogni cura noiosa, e d* ogni male, 
Tu dove spieghi Y ale 
Spargi rorido gelo, 
Che gli afFanni, e le doglie 
D' ombre soavi invoglie, 
E copri d' un ameno, e dolce velo. 
Tu per tranqailli ma'i, e lieti fiumi 
Per le selve, e per dumi 
AcqUeti gli animali, 
Et a tutti e mortali 
Lievi '1 pensier, & il lor fascio grave, 
Solo la Donna mia pace non have. 



For Sleep, — this poppy's snowy flower 
With purple hyacinths combine, 

To lure him to thy Lady's bower, 
Alcippus ! thou the wreath entwine. 



488 MEMOIRS OF 

Those eyes, in sickness bright, implore 
His aid, — he only can restore. 

O fraught with balm for every woe, 
The kind, mellifluous boon supply ! 

To bid the tear forget to flow, 

And soothe to peace the sufferer's sigh 

'Tis thine ; — and well affliction knows 

The blessings of endear'd repose. 

Bland child of Night ! from Lethe's bourne 
Thou com'st to weave the oblivious veil, 

And on the wretched and forlorn 
Can'st bid the dear illusion steal ; 

In dim suffusion wont to fling 

The freshness of thy dewy wing. 

Even now, mild power ! thy sway pervades 
The calm recesses of the main, 

To stillness charms the leafy glades, 
And lulls each mortal care and pain ; 

Yet deigns, regardless- of our prayer, 

No respite to the suffering fair. 



FRACASTORIUS. 489 



ANDREW NAUGERIT 

Inmtatio ad amcenum fontem. 

Et gelidus fons est, et nulla salubrior unda, 

Et molli circum graraine terra viret ; 
Et ramis arcent soles frondentibus alni, 

Et levis in nullo gratior aura loco est : 
Et medio Titan nunc ardentissimus axe est 5 

Exustusque gravi sidere fervet ager. 
Siste, viator, iter : nimio jam torridus aestu es ; 

Jam nequeunt lassi longius ire pedes. 
Accubitu languorem, aestum aura, umbraque virenti, 

Perspicuo poteris fonte levare sitim: 



INVITATION TO A FOUNTAIN. 



Cool is this fount, and pure its current flows, 

Its grassy margin woos thee to repose ! 

Soft wave these alders, — here the freshening breeze 

Shall gently fan thee as thou liest at ease : 

See— Titan flames from yon meridian skies 5 

Parch'd is the yellow mead, — the flow'ret dies : 

Long hast thou toil'd beneath his sickening ray, 

Thy feet implore a respite from the way ; 

Rest shall re-nerve thy limbs, — thy fever's rage ' 

The breeze and leafy shade, — thy thirst this spring assuage. 



3 R 



490 MEMOIRS OF 



DI MESSER ANDREA NAVAGERO, 



Begli occhi, ove Amor regna, & onde tira 
Mille strali pungenti nel mio petto, 
Fia mai, che dimostriate un dolce afFetto 
Al cor mio fido, che per voi sospira ? 

Chiari specehi, ne* quai si scorge, e mira 
Di questa nostra eta 1' honor perfetto, 
Quando verra, che lieto il mesto aspetto 
Miri in voi chi per voi Amor raartira ? 

Serene stelle, a cui sovente sole 
Volgersi la mia stanca navicella, 
Verra mai di condurla in porto 1' hora ? 

Almi Soli piu chiari assai che '1 Sole ; 
La vostra luce oltra le belle bella 
Deh lucera per me prima ch' io mora ? 



Bright eyes, where Cupid sits enthron'd, and aims 
A thousand pungent arrows at my breast, 
Shall e'er one glance, soft pity's mild behest 
Console the constant heart your power inflames ? 

Clear mirrours, where exulting in her claims. 
Perfection views her image fair exprest, 
Will ye reflect less sad, the semblance blest 
Of him who droops a martyr to your beams ? 



FRACAST0R1US. 

Ye stars serene, by whose resplendent light 
My bark forlorn her course is wont to steer, 
Say, may she hope her haven to descry ? 

Suns, that transcend the sun's effulgence bright, 
Your rays, whose lustre is beyond compare, 
Ah ! shall they shine for me, before I die ? 



491 




3 R 2 




MEMOIRS 

OF 

MARCUS ANTONIUS FLAMINIUS. 



Umbrae frigidulae ! arborum susurri ! 
Antra roscida ! discolore picta 
Tellus gramine ! fontium loquaces 
Lymphs ! garrulae aves ! arnica Musis 
Otia ! — O mihi si volare vestrum 
In sinum superi annuant benigni ! 

Ad agellum suum. 

Ye cooling shades ! thou darkling grove ! 

Dew-sprinkled antres ! warbling bowers ! 
Streamlets that murmur as ye rove ! 

And verdant fields, and breathing flowers ! 
Calm leisure, friendly to the Muse ! 

To you, the wistful bard aspires, 

And gladly bounds his fond desires 
To pastoral haunts, and rural views. 

IVJLarcus Antonius Flaminius, a native 
of Imola in Romagna, was born about the 
year 1493. Joannes Antonius Flaminius, his 
father, was a respectable poet, and distin- 



, 494 



MEMOIRS OF 






guished himself as a writer both in verse and 
prose. The son imbibed in early youth a taste 
for polite literature. He not only excelled 
amongst the Italians as a poet, but was es- 
teemed a very great proficient in the different 
branches of philosophy : and his abilities, 
which are said to have resembled in kind, sur- 
passed in degree, those which had distinguish- 
ed his father. In short, he has by some been 
pronounced the best poet of his time, and the 
ornament of the age in which he lived. 

Above all, he is commended for his excel- 
lent moral qualities, and the conciliating gen- 
tleness of his disposition. (a) He is said to 
have been partial to the doctrines of Luther, 
which in his time began to spread in Germa- 
ny ; and he did not on this account escape 
the jealousy and secret censures of his more 
rigid brethren. But it does not clearly ap- 
pear, whether the charge had any other 
grounds than that he disapproved of all vio- 
lence in support of the doctrines of the catho- 
lic church, and wished them rather to be 
recommended and vindicated by calm argu- 
ment, and an exemplary conduct. 

The following epigram, composed on the 
martyrdom of Savonarola, whose character 
and conduct, notwithstanding the degrading 
circumstances that attended his public execu- 
tion, have been defended and censured with 



i l 



(a) Several letters of Flaminio, which place the writer's 
moral and religious character in an amiable light, may be 
found in the collection entitled " Lettere Volgari di di- 
vcrsi nobilissnni uomini, &c. apud Aldi Filios. Vcndiis, 
1551, in 8vo.° 



FLAMINIUS. 495 

equal warmth, does honour to Flaminio's phi- 
lanthropy and religious moderation. 



Dum fera flamma tuos, Hieronyme, pascilur artus, 

R e l l i g i o, sacras dilaniata comas, 
Flevit, et 6 ! dixit, crudeles parcite flammae, 

Parcite, sunt isto viscera nostra rogo. 



When frenzied zealots light the penal fires, 
And Jerome writhes in tortures, and expires, 
Religion weeps ; —barbarians cease ! she cries, 
Religion suffers, — 'tis herself that dies. 

Flaminio probably born to no ample patri- 
mony, experienced the protection and libera- 
lity of Cardinal Alexander Farnese, (b) ne- 
phew of Paul III. who is represented as one 
of the most enlightened and virtuous charac- 
ters of his time, and the friend of literature 
and learned men. We find our poet expres- 
sing his gratitude, and paying him the tribute 
of praise, which in this instance cannot be 
deemed flattery, in several of his Latin poems. 



(b) Alexander Farnese, born A. D. 1520, was 
eldest son of Pietro Lodovico Farnese, duke of Parma, Cle- 
ment VII. appointed him bishop of Parma when he was no 
more than fourteen years of age. He successively obtained 
other preferments ; and at length was made dean of the 
sacred college. Charles V. is said on this occasion to have 
declared, that if all the members resembled Farnese, it 
would be the most august assembly in the world. After 
various public employments he retired to Rome, and there 
lived in dignified splendour, the acknowledged protector of 
letters. His death happened in 1589. (Nouveau Diction- 
naire Historique. Ed. 7 me, in 8vo. a Caen, fyc. 17 89. J 




496 



MEMOIRS OF 






From one of these we infer, that the villa 
which had formerly been the favourite residence 
of his father, having by some mischance fallen 
into other hands, was restored to the son by 
the munificence of Farnese. 



AD AGELLUM SUUM. 

Venuste agelle, tuque pulchra villula, 

Mei parentis optimi 
Olim voluptas, et quies gratisslma 

Fuistis : at simul senex 
Terras reliquit, et beatas ccelitum 

Petivit oras, incola 
Vos alter oceupavit, atque ferreus 

Amabili vestro sinu 
Me lacrimantem ejecit, et caris procul 

Abire jussit flnibus. 
At nunc, arnica rura, vos reddit mihi 

Farnesii benignitas. 
Jam vos revisam, jam juvabit arbores 

Manu paterna consitas 
Videre ; jam libebit in cubiculo 

Molles inire somnulos, 
Ubi Senex solebat artus languidos 

Molli fovere lectulo. 
Gaudete fontes, rivulique limpidi ! 

Heri vetusti filius 
Jamjam propinquat, vosque dulci fistula 

Mulcebit, ilia fistula 
Quam vestro Iolje donat Alcon maximus; 

Utincliti Farnesii 
Laudes canentem Naiadum pulcher chorus 

Miretur, et Pan capripes. 



I I 



FLAMINIUS. 497 



Sweet Villa ! dear, delightful meads, 

Scenes of my aged father's joys, — 
From the calm bosom of your shades, 

'Till fate remov'd him to the skies ! 

'Twas then, from your regretted bourne 

A proud usurper bade me roam, 
And drove me, lingering and forlorn, 

An exile from my native home. 

Farnese's bounty now again 

Gives me to scenes so long endeared ; 
Restores me to my lost domain, — 

To groves my father's hands had rear'd : 

Again, beneath my native cot 

To taste the sweets of bland repose, 
To mark, within the vocal grot, 

My limpid rivulet as it flows. 

Lov'd haunts ! your shepherd's tuneful strain 
Those wonted echoes soon shall hear ; 

The pipe that Alcon gave your swain, 
Shall quickly speak its master near. 

There, while Iolas' raptur'd song 

Resounds Farnese's honoured name, 

The listening Naiads round shall throng, 
And Pan applaud the grateful theme. 

We have reason to conjecture that the 
cardinal's generosity did not terminate here, 
but enabled Flaminio to enjoy his beloved 

3s 



I 




498 




See Memoirs 
of Fracastor. 
page 463. 



MEMOIRS OF 

rural retreat in ease and affluence, (c) Indeed 
it appears that his illustrious Maecenas enter- 
tained a very great regard for Flaminio, occa- 
sionally visited him in a friendly and familiar 
manner, and even retained him for a long- 
time beneath his own roof. He is said to have 
obtained for him the appointment of secretary 
to the council of Trent, an office which Fla- 
minio's infirm state of health prevented him 
from accepting. 

We have already had occasion to notice 
the amicable and literary intercourse which 
Flaminio maintained with Bembo, and more 
especially with Fracastor, whose most inti- 
mate friends and associates appear to have 
been alike the friends of Flaminio. (d) He 
possessed in an equal degree the esteem of 















(c) " — Optatum dat habere agellum 
Clara Fames! pietas, gravique 
Liberans cur a, jubet ociosam 

Ducere vitam." 

C Ad Apollinem,) 

Thus in the following lines, where by Iolas the poet as 
usual characterises himself: 

"Dilectus Phoebo, et Musis, sed pauper, Iolas 
Et semper domini pascere suetus oves ; 

Nunc dives pecoris Fames! munere factus, 
Factus et illius munere dives agri : 

Divino juveni, meritis pro talibus, ipsam 
Et vocem, et calamos, ingeniumque dicat." 

(d) To one of them, Franciscus Turrianus, Flaminius 
inscribes four books of his poems : the fifth is addressed to 
Cardinal Alexander Farnese. He was the author of a poe- 
tical version of part of the Psalms, and other devotional 
compositions. " Divinam Davidicorum Psalmorum majesta- 
tem primus (Flaminius) inter suos, cum aliqua laude Latinis 
versibus expressit." (Thuanus.) 



FLAMINIUS. 499 

those, who for their moral excellencies or 
literary attainments, had heen deservedly raised 
to the highest ecclesiastical dignities. He 
was long not only the associate, but the guest 
of cardinal Pole, who entertained the highest 
opinion of his talents, modesty, probity, and £ ist poli ad 
unfeigned piety ; and in one of his letters, victor, inter 
laments the death of Flaminio, in terms which ^j£; # claror * 
breathe the most cordial esteem and friend- 
ship, (e) 

All accounts agree that Flaminio was of a 
very delicate habit, and laboured under an 
almost continual disorder of the stomach, 
which frequently incapacitated him for pursu- 
ing his studies with such intense application 
as he desired. To this infelicity of bodily 
temperament, and to the frequent returns of 
indisposition which he experienced, he occa- 
sionally alludes in his poems. One of these 
painful intervals probably suggested the fol- 
lowing querulous lines : 



(e) Cardinal Pole was nearly related to the then 
reigning family in England. He was educated at Oxford. 
Afterwards passing over to the continent, his character for 
erudition, and his other qualifications soon introduced him 
to the intimacy of the most learned persons of the age. He 
was created a cardinal by Paul III. in 1536. He presided 
at the council of Trent; and at length returned to England, 
where he died a few hours after Queen Mary, in the fifty- 
ninth year of his age. In fact (if we may believe the editors 
of" Nouveau Dictionnaire Historique,") the shock which the 
news of the queen's death gave him, combined with the 
apprehensions which he felt for the interests of the Romish 
church, affected him so much, that having demanded his cru- 
cifix, which he devoutly embraced, he exclaimed, " Domine, 
salvanos, perimus ! Salvator mundi, salva ecclesiam tuam !" 
and a short time afterwards expired. 

3 S 2 




500 









MEMOIRS OF 



AD SOMNUM. 



Hue ades O bone Somne ! veni dulcissime Somne ! 

Et meafurtiva lumina claude manu. 
Somne veni ! en ! volucres tibi dulcia carmina dicunt ; 

Invitat placido te vaga lympha sono. 
Te violae, te lilia pulchra, tuumque papaver, 

Teque vocant plenis Cressia vina cadis. 
Nee tamen ipse venis : quidnam, mitissime rerum, 

Jam surdum precibus te facit esse meis ? 
Non ego vel foedo maculavi crimine vitam, 

Vel populi mores et malefacta sequor. 
Si nescis, ego sum Musarum, Somne, sacerdos ; 

Nutriit in tenero me pia Musa sinu ; 
Et citharam dedit : hos dulces tibi condere versus 

Jam meditor; propere tu modo Somne veni. 
Ni properas, lethi sopor ingruit, et mea saevus 

Lumina perpetua condere nocte parat. 
Ergo age Somne, gradum celera, ne fama vagetur 

Immeritum cplpa me periisse tua. 
Nam si nulla meas tangit te cura salutis^ 
At pareas famae, si sapis, ipse tua?. 



to sleep. 






Come gentlest, sweetest sleep ! my call obey; 
Let thy light hand these eyelids close, 
And kindly steal me from my woes : 

Hither benignant, wing thy placid way. 

Come sleep ! for thee, in wild melodious lays, 
Each bird exerts his soothing powers, 
And warbles in the leafy bowers; 

For thee yon rivulet murmurs as it strays : 



FLAMINIUS. 501 

For thee fond Flora decks these verdant fields, 

The lily pale, the violet blows ; 

Here thy own poppies breathe repose, 
And the rich vine oblivious nectar yields. 
Still dost thou linger ? — Bland restorer, say 

Why thus deny me balmy resi ? 

No guilty horrors haunt my breast, 
Nor wont my feet with devious crowds to stray. 
Learn, gentle sleep, who asks thy influence mild, 

A blameless votary of the Nine, 

Ordain'd to deck the Muse's shrine, 
Nurs'd in their haunts, and deemed their favour'd chiLd. 
To me the lyre they gave, the tuneful strain ; 

And thus thy genial power to sing, 

Grateful I'll strike the warbling string : 
Then haste thou sleep ! nor still my suit disdain. 
Haste, to my aid, kind sleep ! indulgent come, 

Ere death o'er all my senses steal, 

Ere endless night these eyelids seal, 
And fate consign me to the dreary tomb. 
Ah | deign relief: — though deaf to misery's cry, 

Untouched with pity, yet beware 

Lest fame to future times declare 
That thou unpitying, doom'dst a bard to die. 



The decease of Flaminius happened at Rome 
A. D. 1550, in the fifty-seventh year of his 
age. It is said that Cardinal Caraffi, after- 
wards elevated to the pontificate by the name 
of Paul IV. having some doubts respecting 
his orthodoxy, and wishing from motives of 
friendship, to contribute to his establishment 
in the faith, administered to him the last reli- 
gious orifices prescribed by the church. 

The delicate verses of Flaminius, " De 
Delio," 






/ 



\ 






502 MEMOIRS O? 

" O fons Melioli sacer/' &c. 

have obtained deserved celebrity, as a peculi- 
arly happy imitation of the much admired 
canzone of Petrarca, 

" Chiare, fresche, e dolci acque/' &c. 

His Latin style is highly commended for its 
purity, and his poems in general, combine a 
graceful facility of manner, and an agreeable 
turn of expression, with such a degree of 
spirit as renders them more than ordinarily 
interesting. 

MARCI ANTONII FLAMINII 
HYMNUS IN AURORAM. 

Ecce ab extremo veniens Eoo 
Roscidas Aurora refert quadrigas, 
Et sinu lucem roseo nitentem 
Candida portat. 

Ite pallentes tenebrae sub Orcum ; 
Ite, quae tota mihi nocte diros 
Manium vultus, mihi dira semper 
Somnia fertis. 

Da lyram yati puer ; ipse flores 
Sparge, dum canto: Bona Diva, salve, 
Quae tuo furvas radiante terras 
Lumine lustras. 

En ! tibi suaves violas, crocumque, 
En ! odorati calathos amomi : 
Surgit, & nostros tibi dulcis aura 
Portat odores : 









FLAMINIUS. 503 



Deferat laudes utinam precesque, 
Quas tibi supplex mea Musa fundit, 
Jam pio sanctos bene docta divos 
Tollere cantu. 

Quis tuam digne celebrare lucem 
Possit, 6 almas genitrix diei j 
Quis tuam formam, 6 Dea ante Divas 
Pulchrior omnes ? 



Ut genas coelo roseas, comamque 
Auream profers, tibi fulva cedunt 
Astra, decedit rutilante victa 
Luna decore. 



Te sine, aeterna jaceant sepulti 
Nocte mortales; sine te nee ullus 
Sit color rebus, neque vita doctas 
Culta perartes. 



Tu gravem pigris oculis soporem 
Excutis ; lethi sopor est imago ; 
Evocans tectis sua quemque laetum ad 
Munia mittis. 

Exilit stratis rapidus viator; 

Ad jugum fortes redeunt juvenci ; 

Laetus in sylvam properar, citato 

Cum grege, pastor. 

Ast amans charse thalamum puellas 
Deserit flens, & tibi verba dicit 
Aspera, amplexu tenerae cupito a- 
vulsus amicse. 






504 MEMOIRS OF 



' 



\ 



Ille amet noctis latebras dolosae, 
Me juvet semper bona lux; nitentem 
Da mihi lucem, Dea magna, longos 
Cernere in annos. 



ODE TO MORNING, 



In blushing beams of soften'd light 
Aurora steals upon the sight: 
With chaste effulgence dart from far 
The splendours of her dewy car ; 
Cheer'd with the view, I bless the ray 
That mildly speaks returning day. 

Retire, ye gloomy shades, to spread 
Your brooding horrors o'er the dead ; — 
Bane of my slumbers, spectres gaunt, 
Forbear my frighted couch to haunt ! 
Phantoms of darkness, horrid dreams, 
Begone! forlo! fair morning beams. 

Emerging from the incumbent shade, 
Her lustre cheers the brilliant mead : — 
Haste, boy, — the tuneful lyre,-— I long 
To meet the goddess with a song ; — 
Haste, while the Muse exerts her powers, 
And strew her smiling path with flowers. 

The violet, charg'd with early sweets, 
Fair morn ! thy cheerful presence greets; 



FLAMINIUS. 505 



The crocus lifts her saffron head, 
And bloomy shrubs their odours shed ; 
Ah ! deign our incense to inhale 
Borne on the gently-swelling gale. 

When morning's charms the song inspire., 

Be mine to wake the warbling lyre ; 

Oh ! waft, ye breezes, to her ear 

The mingled strains of praise and prayer: 

Bid her approve our faint essays, 

And teach the offer'd gift to please. 

For ah ! thy beauties to pourtray, 
Fair mother of the infant day, — 
What time in mildest splendours drest 
Thy lucid form appears confest, — 
Still must the admiring bard despair,— 
O Nymph — superlatively fair ! 

Thy crimson cheeks a blush disclose 
More vivid than the opening rose ; 
Thy softly-waving locks unfold 
More lustre than the burnishM gold ; 
The envious stars their lights resign, 
And Luna's beam is lost in thine. 

Mortals had lain, without thine aid, 
Ingulph'd in night's perpetual shade : 
The brightest colours but display 
A lustre borrow'd from thy ray ; 
And every grace that art can boast 
Without thy genial help were lost, 



3 T 



A 



506 MEMOIRS OF 



Fast bound in Lethe's dull embrace, 
'Tis thine the sluggard to release ; 
Thou wak'st to life the torpid mind, 
To deathful slumbers else consign'd : 
And pleased to share thy tranquil smile, 
Man with new vigour meets his toil. 

Betimes the sprightly traveller wakes : 
The sturdy ox his stall forsakes, 
Patient his sinewy neck to bow, 
And bear the yoke, and drag the plough : 
His fleecy charge the shepherd leads 
To graze beneath the sylvan shades. 

Lull'd in his fair one's gentle arms, 

The lover if thy voice alarms ; 

If with regret the attractive couch 

He leaves, and blames thy near approach. 

Still let him deem thy call unkind, 

And cast the " lingering look behind." 

His be the illusive joys of night; 
My boast shall be the chearful light : 
Give me to watch the orient ray, 
And hail the glad return of day ; — 
And long, oh ! long — ye Pow'rs divine, 
May such reviving joys be mine ! 



FLAMJNIUS. 507 



AD MARCUM. 

Jam luculenta, Marce, pecunia 
Tumultuosum per mare cursitans 
Quam comparasti, disce tandem 
Disce, precor, sapienter uti. 

Nam congerendis divitiis modus 
Hie esse debet, pauperiem ut tibi 
Tuisque liberis repellens, 
Laetus agas superest quod aevi. 

Ergo relictis navibus, et mari, 
Ad tuta ruris te refer ocia ; 
Insanientis et procellae 
Dirum alii paveant furorem. 

Quis non benignae culta nitentia 
Terras minaci praeferat Adriae ? 
Quis candido gregi catervas 
Comparet horribiles natantum ? 

Quod si lucellum te cap it ; — et sua 
Sunt lucra gnavis agricolis, pecus 
Saltusque, et arva diligenti 
Sunt domino bene fructuosa. 

Nam terra mater reddere diligit 
Magno colenti semina foenore, 
Ni tu recusas illam aratro 
Assiduisque juvare rastris. 

Est hie agellus, villaque collibus 
Fundata amoenis, quam liquidi ambiunt 
3 T % 



508 



MEMOIRS OF 

Fontes, et arcens umbra, opaca 
Silva canis orrentis aestum. 






His tu coemptis incipe tempora 
Post longa tandem vivere, conjugis 
In dulcis amplexu daturus 
Laetam animam veniente letho. 



TO MARCUS, 



Marcus ! who long hast plow'd the main, 
At length repress this thirst of gain ; 
As prudence bids, thy wealth employ, 
And of thy toils the fruits enjoy. 

Thou, and thy offspring lov'd, secure 
From penury's gripe, 'twere wisdom sure 
To banish anxious cares, and give 
To bliss the span thou hast to live. 

Quit then thy bark : the billowy wave 
Consent for rural haunts to leave : 
Let others dare old Neptune's reign, 
And brave the tempest's rage insane. 






Who would the champaign's verdant green 
Forego for Adria's troublous scene ? 
Or madly slight the fleecy brood, 
To bay the monsters of the flood ? 



Yet if for gain thou ceaseless pine, 
The peasant's surer wealth be thine : 
Here shall the forest and the field, 
Grateful, a plenteous tribute yield. 



FLAMINIUS. 

True to thy hopes the parent soil 
Luxuriant, shall reward thy toil : 
Scatter but thou the seeds, nor spare 
The harrow and industrious share. 

Inviting, see ! its subject lands, 
The villa's pleasant front commands: 
See limpid streams, and shady bow'rs, 
To skreen thee in the autumnal hours. 

Haste then ! thy treasur'd hoards unclose, 
Here gladly purchase late repose : 
And midst a wife's endearments wait, 
Resign'd, the summons of thy fate. 



509 





MEMOIRS 

OF 

THE AMALTHEI. 



vosjvatum studiosa cohors ! vos inclyta virtus 
attollet, priscis £mula temporibus. 

Zanchius. 



JL HE AMALTHEI (HlERONYMUS, JOANNES 

Baptista, and Cornelius) were brothers, 
who flourished in the earlier part of the six- 
teenth century, and distinguished themselves 
as men of letters. The place of their birth 
was Oderzo, a city of the Venetian territory. 
Hieronymus, the eldest, united in his own 
person the characters of a skilful physician, 
and a pleasing poet. His Latin poems are in 
general written in a style of singular elegance 
and purity. The celebrated French critic and 
commentator Marc-Antoine Muret, in his cor- 






512 MEMOIRS OF 



\ 



respondence with Lambin, classes them among 
the best productions of the Italians, in that 
species of composition, (a) In poems of the 
light and epigrammatic kind, he particularly 
excelled. Of these the following, entitled 
" The Hour-glass" or " The Tomb of Alcip- 
pus," is amongst the most admired. 



(a) Marc-Antoine Muret, who ranks among the 
Latin poets of France, was born near Limoges, A. D. 1526. 
He is said, principally by his own application, to have attained 
the critical knowledge of the Greek and Latin languages for 
which he was distinguished. He taught in various colleges 
and seminaries of education, and was remarkable for the 
vivacity of his disposition, and a certain pointed quickness 
of reproof, which enabled him to repress the undue for- 
wardness of his pupils. Charges of a serious nature, the 
justice of which is however disputed, obliged him to flee 
from his native country. It is related of him, that as he 
travelled towards Italy in disguise, he fell sick at an inn ; 
and the physicians of the place, ignorant of the quality of 
their patient, proposed to each other to try upon him a me- 
dicine, the effect of which had not been fully ascertained. 
" Faciamus experimentum in corpore vili ; '• which words 
being overheard by the professor, speedily operated his cure, 
without further medical assistance. This eminent scholar, 
who distinguished himself as a commentator on classic au- 
thors, a miscellaneous writer, and a Latin poet, died in 
1585, in the sixtieth year of his age. Many curious parti- 
culars concerning Muret, may be found in the Anti-Baillet 
of Menage, part i. p. 283 et seqq. a Amsterdam. 1725, in 
1 2mo. See also Thuani Hist, and Nouveau Dictiunnare His~ 
toriquc. 

Denys Lambin, another celebrated commentator, was 
born at Montreuil sur mer, in Picardy. His profound erudi- 
tion and scrupulous exactness as a collector of various read- 
ings, are acknowledged ; but some have blamed his unautho- 
rized and frequently injudicious freedoms in correcting the 
text of his authors. He occasionally united his critical la- 
bours with those of Muret. Lambin was Greek professor 
in the College Royale at Paris. He died in 1572. 



THE AMALTHEI. 



513 



DE HOROLOGIO PULVEREO. 

Perspicuus vitro pulvis qui dividit horas, 
Dam vagus angustum ssepe recurrit iter, 

Olim erat Alcippus, qui Gall^e ut vidit ocellos, 
Arsit, et est subito factus ab igne cinis. 

Irrequiete cinis ! miseros testabere amantes 
More tuo nulla posse quiete frui. (6) 



Through that perspicuous vase the tiny shower 
That ceaseless falls, and marks the passing hour, 
Alcippus was, — by Galla's glances fir'd 
Who burn'd despairing, and in dust expir'd. 
Ill-fated dust ! thy restless motion shews 
That death itself to love denies repose. 

This learned man is also much commended 
for his urbanity of manners, and the suavity 
of his disposition. He cultivated his talent ^ i E™ uanum 
for poetry at an advanced age with undimi- 
nished spirit, as appears in his verses to his 
friend Melchior, notwithstanding the com- 
plaint which they breathe of decaying powers : 



(b) The following which Warton (Essay on the Writ- 
ings and Genius of Pope: vol. i. p. 289J terms the most 
justly celebrated of modern epigrams, originated also from 
the pen of Hieronymus Amaltheus : 

De Acone et Leonilld. 

Lumine Ac on dextro, capta est Leonilla sinistro, 

Et potis est forma vincere uterque Deos ; 
Blande puer, lumen quod habes concede sorori, 
Sic tu cascus Amor, sic erit ilia Venus. 
X Vide Carm. lllustr. Poet. Ital. et Trium Pratrum Amaltheo- 
rum Carmina.) 

3 u 



514 MEMOIRS OF 



Per juga, per rupes, per celsa cacumina Pindi, 

Veloci nimium dum pede curris iter, 
Me tua servanlem lento vestigia gressu, 

Melchior ! expecta: Melchior ! afferopem: 
Neve eadam in praeceps, tremulo mihi porrige dextram ; 

En ! titubant fessi languida crura senis. 
Quod si forte meae superest spes nulla salutis, 

Et sum Lethaeas ebibiturus aquas, 
Ah ! querulo saltern defle mea funera cantu, 

Et mea lugubri carmine fata geme. 
Nam si me exanimem cithara cantabis eburna, 

Post obitum, in vita morte, superstes ero. 



O'er rocks, o'er wild cliffs, to proud Pindus' height 
You urge, my friend, impetuous urge your way ; 

In pity, oh ! repress your arduous flight, 
And deign to feeble age a transient stay. 

Breathless I follow, — see ! I tottering stand 
On the tremendous verge, whose height appals 

The trembling votary ; stretch the assisting hand, 
Or now, oh ! now — your fainting suppliant falls; 

But if no friendly hand avail to save 

Me sinking fast to fate's oblivious bourne, 

And doom'd to taste of Lethe's torpid wave ; 
Be thine at least my hapless lot to mourn. 

Melchior! if thou in pity to my fall 
To dirge funereal strike thy polish'd lyre, 

Me, spite of fate, the numbers shall recal, 
And bid my name to deathless praise aspire. 

Hicronymus Amaltheus died at the place 
of his nativity, in 1574, in his sixty-eighth 



THE AMALTHEI. 515 

year. His fellow-citizens are said to have 
inscribed an epitaph on his tomb, in which 
they represent him as another Apollo, equally 
skilled in poesy and the healing art. His 
poems, together with those of his brothers, 
were first collected and published entire by 
Hieronymus Alexander at Venice, in the year 
16 C 27, and afterwards by Grasvius with those 
of Sannazarius at Amsterdam, in 1689. 

The poetical talents of Giovanni, the 
second brother, were not inferior to those of 
Girolamo. We remark in his compositions 
equal harmony, combined with equal spirit ; 
and critics have united them under the flatter- 
ing title of " Musarum Delicias. " Besides 
the poems written in Latin, others by Gio- 
vanni Battista occur in his native language, 
which rank him among the best Italian po- 
ets, (c) Some unfinished pieces of his are said 
to have been discovered at Rome, in the libra- 
ry of Cardinal Ottoboni. 

Eminently distinguished for his accurate 
knowledge of the Greek and Latin languages, 
he passed the greatest part of his life at the 
court of Rome, and stood high in the favour 
of three successive pontiffs. Pie discharged 
the office of secretary to the cardinals who 
were deputed to the council of Trent. We 
have Giovanni's own evidence to prove that 
he was thus enabled to attain, if not to the 
most splendid and imposing affluence, at least 
to that moderate degree of it, which combined 



(c) His Italian poems, we are informed, occur in vari- 
ous collections. They may be found in the " Rime di di- 
versi et eccellentissimi autori." 8vo. In Venetia. 1550, 



3 U 2 



516 



MEMOIRS OF 



J. Bapt. Amal- 
theus ad Tor- 
quatum. 



with temperance and integrity, conduces most 
to real happiness : 

"Me quo que ut incertam scirem contemnere sortem, 

Atque auri pretium infelix, finxere Camcenae 

Gaudentem censu, puro qui splendeat usu. 

Percurrant alii sinuosis aequora velis, 

Eooque legant ardentes littore gemmas ; 

Ipse, nisi attonitae mihi sit mens conscia culpa?, 

Intra naturae fines regnare beatus 

Dicar, et insanis animum subducere curis." 

He died at Rome, at the early age of forty- 
seven years. 

I had rather the following little poem 
should be considered as an argument of the 
poet's affluence, than of his intemperance. It 
would be unfair to form rash conclusions, or 
even to suppose that it proves any thing abso- 
lutely, except the author's talents for poetical 
description. 

JOANNIS BAPTISTS, AMALTHEI 



PATERA. 



Compare Ode 
17 of Anacre- 
on, edition of 
Barnes. 



Non mihi Pleiadas, non lucida plaustra Bootee, 
Stellarumve choros — pictisve in nubibus Irim, 
Nee solem rutilum patera caelavit in aurea, 
Docta manus, — Myos artifices imitata figuras, 
Sed nemora, et teneris distinctas floribus herbas, 
Et graciles hederas mitesque in vitibus uvas, 
Et circumflexos argento effinxit acanth'os. 
Addidit et rupis prognalum vertice fontem, 
Et perlucentes liquido sub fonte lapillos, 
Artis opus mirae, medioque ex aggere Nymphas 
Candida virgineo nectentes brachia ludo. 
Parte alia sub vite sacer procumbit Iacchus, 
Ebria cui lentus natat intra lumina somnus, 



THE AMALTHEI. 51? 



Ante pedes thyrsi, redimitaque tela corymbis, 
Delapsasque jacent neglecto e crine corollae. 
Inter se vigiles Mareotiea vina ministrant 
Ludentes Satyri passim, projectaque rident 
Serta Dei ; credas diffuso ex ore cachinnos 
Excipere, et dulces Nympharum audire susurros. 
Hinc, infusa novo semper mihi nectare vina 
Mutat inaurata crater argenteus ansa 
Longaque sollicitis affert oblivia curis. 



No twinkling Pleiads, nor the shining wain, 
And varied labours of the zodiack train, 
Nor radiant Iris with her painted bow 
Art on my golden vase hath taught to glow. 
It speaks the sculptor's imitative powers 
Display'd in shady groves, and meads, and flowers 
With mingled ivy, and the creeping vine, 
Around its verge he bade the acanthus shine. 
Here, fast descending from the sloping hill, 
'Mid glittering pebbles falls the lucid rill; 
While there, descriptive of the master's powers, 
The sportive Nymphs beguile the rural hours, 
And in the light gay dance their hands combine.— 
Beneath his tree the rosy God of wine 
At ease recumbent lolls; his swimming eyes 
Oblivious slumbers ready to surprise : — 
His thyrsus there, with ivy-berries wound, 
And falling chaplet strew the flow'ry ground. 
Light Satyrs here — their wakeful revels hold 
And quaff the vinous juice in cups of gold :— - 
See how the wanton train — to life ally'd, 
The scatter'd emblems of the God deride — 
While the broad laugh bursts ever unreprest, 
And playful Nymphs retort the whisper'd jest ! 

Hence pour'd, and mantling on the dazzled view.* 
The sparkling wine is seen to change its hue, 



r 



518 










MEMOIRS OF 

As from a cup of burnish'd silver wrought, 
With handle gilt, — I drain the ambrosial draught — 
That oft the failing spring of joy repairs, 
And gives a long oblivion to my cares. 

Cornelius, the youngest of the Amal- 
thei, has left a few Latin poems, which serve 
to manifest the conformity of his taste and 
talents with those of his learned brothers. He 
probably died in the prime of life, and some 
accounts fix the decease of all the three bro- 
thers in the same year. 

DI M. GIOVANNI BATTISTA AMALTHEO. 

Pastor felice ! che dal vulgo errante 

Lontano stai tra fresche ombrose valli, 

Ne d' imperio ti cal, ne di Fortuna ; 

Tu dentro il bel soggiorno hai sempre avante 

Vaghi, correnti, e lucidi cristalli : 

Ne ti rompe il riposo invidia alcuna : 

Ne trista nube imbruna 

L* aria de tuoi fioriti colli aprici. 

Vedi gli armenti a lor sentieri usati, 

Pascendo i verdi prati, 

Errar per le contrade alme e felici, 

Mentre in riposte e solitarie rive 

Inviti co' 1 tuo canto Y aure estive. 
Teco la greggia, e teco stassi Am ore : 

Teco la tua leggiadra Pastorella 

Le rime alterna, e scopre i suoi desiri : 

Hor nel tuo sen comparte *1 sonno, e 1* hore : 

Hor de la fronte P una, e 1' altra stella 

In te rivolge con soavi giri ; 

E di caldi sospiri, 

E di pietose voci il ciel percote. 

Qual celeste piacer, felice Iola, 

T* ingombra, quando sola 



THE AMALTHEI. 519 



Duolsi Leucippe in quelle dolci note 
Di non veder del foco, che Y infiamma, 
Accesa nel tuo core ancho pur dramma ? 
Poi che 1' ardenti fiamme a lei rivele, 
Che ti consuman si soavemente ; 
Ella da pieta vinta il duol acqueta, 
Et affrena i sospiri, e le querele. 
Cosi tutta di gran vaghezza ardente 
Di speme si riempie ; e 'n vista lieta 
Stassene humile, e queta. 
Poi si risveglia a Y amorose tempre : 

di fioretti un' odorato nembo 
Versa sovra il tuo grembo, 
Cantando, come teco gia contempre 
Amor ogni desire, ogni sua gioia ; 

E come al tuo apparir fugga ogni noia. 
Fortunato Pastor ! a te si veste 

La selva di piu altere, e ricche fronde : 

A te largo di fior tributo rende 

La terra : & al tuo canto 1' aure deste 

Rasserenano il cielo, acquetan P onde, 

E nulla mai tanto diletto offende, 

E nulla mai contende 

Conformi effetti a lieti pensier tuol. 

Non avaro desio ti morde, o preme ; 

Ne faticosa speme 

Ti sospinge dal Tago a i liti Eoi 

Dietro a fallace ben, che '1 tempo certo 

N' envola, e stato ne promette incerto. 
Felice Iola ! tu la selva, e '1 monte 

Tu le secrete piagge, e le campagne, 

Ove ti guida Amor vai ricercando. 

Et hor sotto un bel faggio, hor presso a un fonte 

Teco hai Leucippe, da cui non scompagne 

1 passi, e Y orme : e vai con lei membrando, 
LP fosti colto, e quando, 

Dal leggiadro suo vago portamento : 



520 MEMOIRS OF 




Hor in schietti arboscelli il nome stampi 
Onde si lieto avampi. 
Crescon le piante: e tu pago, e contento 
Senti crescer insieme i vostri amori, 
E 'n un medesmo foco arder duo cori. 

Felice Iola ! alhor che parte '1 giorno, 
Lasciando i fonti, e la frondosa chiostra, 
La mansueta schiera altrove meni ; 
Poi la richiami a 1' usato soggiorno, 
Tosto, ch' al nostro cielo il Sol si mostra. 
Ivi non temi che i di tuoi sereni, 
E di dolcezza pieni 
Turbi di dolor nebbia, o di paura : 
Depinge il tuo terren mattino, e sera, 
Continua Primavera, 
Ne vi si vede intorno P aria oscura ; 
Anzi piu chiara, e temperata luce, 
E piu tranquillo ciel sempre riluce. 

Marmi, loggie, theatri, e gemme, & oro, 
E quanto il cieco mondo honora, e brama, 
Contento di te sol, odi e dispregi : 
Che non ricchi palazzi di thesoro 
Riposo danno a chi gli apprezza, & ama : 
Ne gli alti tetti de superbi regi, 
Ne gli honorati fregi 
Hanno sbandite le noiose cure. 
Sopra un fiorito seggio adhora adhora 
Sentendo la dolce ora, 
E '1 grato mormorar de P acque pure, 
Queti & appaghi il cor di tal vaghezza, 
Ch' ogni altra ti parria minor dolcezza. 

Canzon tra i fiori, e Y herba 
Un bel Pastor solinga troverai, 
A cui le chiare fonti invidio, e '1 colle, 
Che mi nasconde, e tolle 
Amor non satio de miei lunghi guai : 
Con lui riponti ; e fuggi la vil turba, 
Che per soverchie voglie il ben perturba. 






THE AMALTHEI. 521 



Shepherd ! who fliest the din of towns, to tread 
The lone cool freshness of the leafy dale, 

Where winds translucent o'er its crystal bed 

The stream Iow-murm'ring ; where no storms assail 
Thy cot, secure from each disastrous gale : 

No cloud malignant o'er thy uplands low'rs, 

Gilded with genial suns, and gay with scattered flowers. 

Blest Swain ! from envy, from ambition freed, 
With thee thy flocks pursue their wonted way, 

Crop the sweet verdure of the smiling mead, 
Or unrestricted o'er the herbage stray. 
Meantime thou wak'st thy solitary lay, 

Where some cool stream meandring steals along, 

And woo'st the noontide breeze with thy melodious song. 

Well pleas'd thy flock, — well pleas'd his station near 
Love smiling keeps ; whilst in impassion'd guise 

To thy soft strain Leucippe lends an ear, 
Or, in a strain as sweet, to thine replies ; 
Whilst on thy breast reposing, her bright eyes 

Now fix on thine their fond, enamour'd gaze, 

Now veil in slumbers bland, their rapture-beaming rays. 

Happy the conscious gales that oft attest 

Your mutual sighs, your vows of faith sincere ; 

But if some secret doubts the fair molest ; 
If, not unheard, to ease her tender care, 
She tell in wild notes to the desart air 

How cold thy passion : how unlike the flame 

That with intenser glow 7 pervades her gentle frame ; 

Thy ardent vows renew 'd, thy pleasing pain, 
With Love's soft eloquence inforc'd, she hears; 
3 x 



522 



MEMOIRS OF 

The charming accents easy credence gain, 
And smiles supplant her jealousies and fears : 
Now Hope each love-illumin'd feature cheers ; 
Hope o'er each charm a brighter lustre throws, 
And bids her throbbing breast in sweetest peace repose. 









Again, as Love inspires, in accents kind, 
To harmony she wakes each tuneful power, 

Or for her Swain, by fancy's hand combin'd, 
Selects the pride of every blooming flower, 
And scents thy bosom with a perfum'd shower : 

Feels from each saddening gloom her heart set free, 

And owns its fondest wish supremely blest in thee. 



Blest Swain ! the woods to thy enraptur'd view 
A broader shade, a livelier green display ; 

Spangled with flowers of every varied hue 

Earth teems ; and sooth'd with thy enchanting lay 
O'er the calm deep the lingering zephyrs play ; 

Serener skies with cloudless lustre shine, 

And emulous of thy bliss, creation smiles benign. 

Those shores, o'er golden sands where Tagus flows, 
Thou haunt'st not: no insatiate thirst of gain 

Prompts thee through arduous toils that interpose, 
For India's wealth with enter prize insane 
To plow, in fragile bark, the stormy main. 

Vain gifts ! which oft the fleeting hour that lends 

Resumes ; ere Life's spent thread the dream of greatness 
ends. 



With Love your guide, you range the sylvan shade, 
Tread the green plains, or climb the sunny brows, 

And mark each bower, where in the tangled glade 
He most delights to breathe his secret vows t 
And oft beneath some beech's spreading boughs, 



THE AMALTHEI. 5%S 

Oft by the fountain's grassy margent, share 
The joys of converse sweet, an undivided pair. 

Now dwells on present bliss your rapturous theme, 

Now scenes of transport past recals to mind ; 
When first subdued, Iolas own'd his flame, 

And to the enchantress fair his heart resign'd : 

Now with her name each scion's tender rind 
He inscribes— well pleas'd to mark their growth, as grows 
The fire tfcat in two breasts with one effulgence glows. 



Thrice happy Shepherd, warn'd by parting day 
The founts you leave ; you leave the woodland choirs. 

Your fleecy charge the welcome call obey, 
And each lorn straggler to the fold retires ; 
Theirs bland repose, and yours, till morn's mild fires, 

Presaging suns still bright, the nightly gloom 

Dispel, and bid your steps their wonted haunts resume. 

Still wing'd with pleasure flit your guileless hours, 
Still your life's devious current flows serene : 

No terrors thrill your breasts, nor ever low'rs 

With care o'ercast, your heaven's attemper'd scene : 
Spring decks your seasons with perennial green: 

With brighter lustre beams each passing day. 

And each returning sun sheds yet a kinder ray. 



The Portico with sculptur'd grace design'd, 
The gilded theatre's illusive show, 

The ^.ity's pomp that strikes each vulgar mind 
The blaze of wealth and splendour you forego 
For joys that from securer sources flow : 

Joys self-deriv'd, which not the shining hoard 

Can give, nor the vain state of potentates affords 






524 MEMOIRS, &C, 

Theirs brooding care (for can the purple vest, 
Can palaces of kings, or boundless sway 

Banish the fiend, or chase his frown unblest?) 
Thy seat the turf, with flowers and verdure gay, 
Where murm'ring waters soothe the livelong day, 

Thou liv'st to rapture unalloy'd ; nor thine 

Would'st or for other scenes, or other hopes resign. 



Go then my song, amidst his green retreats, 
Go thou and seek the solitary swain, 

Tell how I long to share his rural sweets, 

His hills and ripling streams ; — but Love, my bane,, 
Forbids, unsoften'd with my lasting pain. 

Refug'd with him, fly thou the crowd unwise 

That for superfluous cares would barter sterling joys. 




INDEX. 



A, 



-cademies, 128. 
Academia Pontana, 371. 
Adramyttenus Manuel, 160. 
^gidius of Viterbo, 383. 
Alberti Leo Baptist a, 70. 
Aldus, 107, 433, 434, 477, £ 

His letter to Politian, 1 6 1 , d 

Verses relatingtohim,3 1 3, t 
Alexander VI. Bull of, 

242, 2. 
Amalthei, 511. 

J oan. Baptist <z, Patera, 5 1 6 

Pastor Felice, 518. 

Hieronymus, *'• De Horolo- 

gio Pulvereo," 513. 

Verses to Melchior, 514. 
Antiq.uarius Jacobus, 75, 

80, 88, 311, 312, note*. 
Argyropylus Joannes, 1, 

81, k. 

Aristophanes of Byzantium, 

89, n. 
Ascensius Badius corrected, 

51, a. 

B 
Barbarus Hermolaus, 119, 

178, 1S7, 191, 194, 208, 

262. Notes, 131,g. 269, f. 

337. e. 
Bembus Bernardus, 406,413, 

Petrus, 119,405, 463. 

His works, 411, 414, 416, 

432, 435, 436, 440. 

His "Fictum pro Antiquo," 

441. 

" Galatea," 449. 
Benedictus Franciscus, 291. 
Benivenii, 278. 
Benivenius Domenicus^C^ 

Hieronymus, 280, i, 324, x. 



Bentivogli family of the, 214. 
Beroaldus Philippus, 212, 

301, Notes, 31/ m. 213, 

n, 215, p, 217, s. 301, 

o. 
Fhilippus the younger, 218,5. 
Bologna University of, 216. 
Bonifacia Carmosina, 371. 
Bonisignius Joan. Baptista, 

J 04, &c. 
BossoiJfeteo,265,285, 306. 
Notes, 308, s. 338, e. 
His letter toSalviatus, 307, r. 
Brucker errors of, 63, d, 289,w. 



Cabbala, 288. Notes, 236, x, 

260, a. 289, n. 
Calderinus Domitius, 82, 

ibid, note /. 92,^. 130,g. 
Carteromachus Scipio, 

32, n. 
Casticlione Baltassar, 

415, h. 
Cilenius Bernardinus, La- 
tin Poem of his, 462, e, 
Chalcondyles Demetrius, 30, 

77. 
CollenutiusPandulphus, 325, 

y. 336, d. 347,/. 
Colonna Victoria, 447. 

Verses in praise of her, ibid. 
Colotius Angelus, 444, b. 

His Sonnet on the death of 

P. Bembo, 446. 
Corneus Andreas, 220, 290. 
Cortesius Alexander, 189, 
113,*. 

Paulus, 118. 
Corvinus Matthias, King 

of Hungary, 50, 111. ibid. 

note, x. 






11 



INDEX. 






Cotta Joannes, 459. 
Crinitus Petrus, 33, r. 

His verses to Picus, 317. 

D 

Dante, his tomb restored, 

406, a. 
Donatus, a remarkable say- 
ing of his, 96, q. 
Donatus Hieronymus 66, 

176, &c. Notes, 176, k. 

269, /. 286, m. 
E. 
Egnatius Joan. Baptist a > 

32,o. 
Epicletus, his Enchiridion, 

173, 171, h. 
Erasmus, 433, unjustly cen- 
sured, 90, o. His visit to 

Rome, 270,/. 
F 
Farnese Alessandro, 463, 

495, ibid, note, b. 498, d. 
Faventinus Antonius, 305, q. 
Ferdinand King of Naples, 

36V, 373, 374. 
Fernus Michael, 312,313, t. 
Fi c i n u s Mar stilus, 1,58, 63, 

31-7, 357. Notes, 58, d, 

70, g. 1 59, c, 350, g. 357,7. 
1* i Dh us Cassandra, 135,&c. 

ibid, note h. 
Fiesole, 264, ibid, note c, 

265, d. e. 
Flaccus Valerius, 277, g. 
Fl a m i n i u s Joan. Antonius, 

493. 
Flam in i us, Marc. Antonius, 

463, 493. 

His Epigram on Savonaro- 
la, 495. 

Ad Agelkim suum, 496. 

Ad Somnum, 500. 

Hymn us ad Auroram, 502. 

Ad Marcum, Ode, 507. 
Fracastokius Hieronymus 

442, 455. His works, 461, 

463. 



Verses to Fr. Turrianus 466. 
To the Bishop of Verona, 
472. 
Syphilis, 478. 
To Sleep, 487. 
Frederick King of Naples, 

375, 380. 
Fumanus Adam, His ver- 
ses on the death of Fracas- 
torius, 477. 
G 
Ganai Germano de, 357. 
Gaza Theodore, 82. 
Giberti Giovanni Matt to, 

463,471,/. 
G r i m a n i Domenico, 27 1 , 

270,/. 
Grocyn William, 33, s. 
Guarino Baptista, 158. b, 

H 

Hadrian VI. Pope, 435. 
Sketch of his character and 
administration, 426, s. 



Indian Guest of Picus, 336, d. 
Innocent VIII, Pope, 99, 

236, 409, 418. 
Inscription for a Fountain, 

281, i. 4*5, b. 
John II. King of Portugal, 

111, 116, ibid, notey. 
Johnson Dr. His detection 

of the plagiarisms of mo- 
dern poets, 3S6, i. 
Julius II. Pope, 417, 179, k. 

423, s. 

L 
Ladislaus King of Naples, 

374, e. 
L a m b i n u s Dionysius, 5\2,a. 
L/etus Pomponius, 128, 129. 

Notes, 128,g, 143,/, 277, 

g, 313, t. 
Landinus Christophorus, 71, 

g, 106, v. 



*~*fc 



INDEX. 



HI 



Lafaccinus Alexius, Latin 

verses of, 187, i, 
Lascaris Const antinus, 77, 

410, c. 

Joannes, 103, 31, 1. 
Laurentius Joannes, 91, p, 

269,/. 
Leo X. Pope, 418, 385, h, 

419,o,421,£. Sketch of 

his pontificate and character 

422, s. his death, 435, w. 
Leonicenus Nicolaus, 74, 

79,299, 166, e. 

Omnibonus, 96, r. 
Lin acer Thomas, 33, £. 

M 
Maffeius Angelus, 86. 

August inus, 92, p. 
Magica Theoremata of Pi- 

cus, 259. a. 
Magnanimus Andreas, 97. 
Maius Junianus, 370. 
Malvetius Troilus, 322. 
Marchesia Cassandra, 381, 

383. 
Martius Galeottus, 113, x. 
Marullus Michael, 141. 

Notes, 31,/., 141, i. 
Mascarellia Camilla, 457. 
Medici Giuliano de', 2, 70. 

Lorenzo, 25, 57, 63 seqq. 
311, 408. Notes, 70, g, 
93, p, 350, g. 

Piero, 25, 123, 147, m. 
Medius Thomas, his Epyrota, 

270,/. 
Menckenius error of, 352, h. 
Menzini Benedetto sonnet 

of, 395. 
Merula Georgius, 29 1 , 1 1 3, a? 

118,6. 313, t. 
More Sir Thomas, 325. 

Life of Picus, 327, a. 

Translation of the " De- 

ploratoria" of Picus, 3 65. 

Muretus Marc. Antonius, 

512, a. 



N 
Naugerius Andreas, 119, 
436,459, 474, ibid, note h. 
His " Invitatio ad Fon- 

tem," 489. 
Sonnet of his, 490. 
Negro Girolamo Letters of, 
428, s. 

o 

Origen Salvation of questi- 
oned, 236, x. 

Ovid imitated, 11, a, 14, b, 
15, c. 16, d. 



Padua University of, 210. 
Paravisinus Dionysius, 77,78. 
PauMII. Pope, 436. 
Perottus Nicola us, 9 4, q . 
Perugia University of, 217. 
Phavorinus, 33, q. 
Phosphorus Lucius, 310. 
Pizzamano Antonio, 27 I. 

PlCUS OF MlRANDULA, Jo- 

annes, 21, 57, 145. 
His Bir.h and early Studies, 

153, seqq. 
Juvenile Correspondence, 

160, seqq. 169, seqq. 
Poems, 169, 175. 
Panegyric on the Poems of 

Lorenzo de' Medici, 183. 
Defence of the Scholastic 

Writers, 191. 
Journey to Rome, 226, seqq. 
Conclusiones, 22*. 2'2S, t, 

230, v, 232, w, 235, seqq, x. 

See also, 258, a. 
Apologia, 238, 239, y. 
Oratio de Hominis Digni- 

tate, 245. 
His Retirement to Florence, 

264. 
Heptaplus, 283, 285, I. m. 

289, n. 
De Ente et Uno, 303, ibid, 

note, p. 305, q. 332, $. 



IV 



INDEX. 









Disputationes in Astrologiam 
34-4, 34.6,/. 

Deprecatoria, &c. 363. 

Anecdotes of him, his charac- 
ter and literary merits, 323, 
325, 328, seqq. 
His Death, 353. 
Pl ati n a Bartholcmceus, 391 , 

m. 
Plautus Comedies of repre- 
sented, 143, /. 
Politianus Angelus* 

His birth and early studies, 
!, seqq. 

Stanze, &c. 2. 

Descrizione dello Regno 
d'Amore, 3, seqq. 

Orfeo, and other Italian Po- 
ems, 21. 

Le Montanine, 23. 
Academical Latin Poems, viz. 

Rusticus, 37. 

Man to, 45. 

Ambra, 49. 

Nutricia, 50. 

De Exilio et Morte Ovidii, 
54. 

Epigram ad Fontium, 20. 

Verses ad Juventutem, 35. 

Epigram ad D. Cretensem, 
et D. Paravisinum, 78, 

Verses to the memory of 
Domitius Calderinus, 86. 

To Anton. Benivenius, 279. 

To BernardusBembus,407. 

To Laurentius Medices, 65, 
66, 73. 

Greek Epigrams, 103, seqq. 

Greek Epigram to Alessan- 
dra Scala, 144. 

To Joannes Picus, 175, 345. 

Miscellanea, 79, 283, 291. 

Translation of Herodian, 
97. 

Other works, 107, 109, w. 

Epigrams of his cited, 20, g, 
64, e, Y2\,d, 142, A. 



His celebrity as a professor, 
scholars, &c. 3 1 . 

Merits as a Poet, 1 8, 56, 1 50 

Vindicated from the charge 
of infidelity, 120, c. 

Personal deformities, 122, /. 
private occupations, tem- 
per and character, 57, 120. 

His decease, 150, 352. 

Mention of him, 269,/. 313, 
t, 354, k. . 
Pompon ATiusPefrws, 457, 1 
Pont anus Jovianus, VIZ, 

370, b. 
Puteolanus Franciscus, 213. 

Q 

Quirino d'Ismerio Hieron. 

443. 

R 
Reuchlinus Joannes, 336,c 
Riccius Bernardus, letter of 

Politian to him, 211, m. 
Rinu c cin 1 A lamanno, 70, g. 

Falchetta de, Sonnet on her 
death, 282, i. 
Roscius Minus, 214, ibid. 

note, o. 215,/?, 302, 0. 
Rucellai Giovanni, 461, e. 



Sadoletus Jacobus, 418, m, 

439, 443, 447. 

Salviatus Jacobus, 278, h. 

Robert us, 27 8, 285, I, 307 ,r 

Sannazarius Actius Since- 

rus, 369. 

Poem " Ad Villam Mergilli- 

nam," 376. 
De Partu Virginis, 383. 
Elegia ad Amicam, 385. 
Epigram ad B. Platinam, 39 1 
Canzone '■ Spcrai," &c. 396. 
His Tomb, 394. 
Savonarola Hieronymus, 359, 

495. 
Scal a Alessandra, 141, seqq. 



INDEX. 



Scala Barthokmctus, 118, 

ibid, note, b. 
Scenic exhibitions, 143,? 
Stephanus Robertus, 108. 

Henricus, 144, /. 
Strozza Hercules, his 

Epitaph on Picus, 355, on 

Politian, ibid. Epigrams of 

his 356, 170, g. 

TitusVespasian, his verses to 

Picus, 167, verses of, 154, a 
Stylus Parisiensis, 333. 



Tasso an imitator of Politian, 

19./. 
Tansillo Luigi Sonnet of, 

476, h. 



Terence Eunuchus of repre- 
sented, 143, /. 

Terminus, Enigma con- 
cerning that Deity. 90, 
vide etiam note o, ibid. 

Turriani Fratres, 459. 

y 

Varillas convicted of false- 
hood, 232, to. 

Volaterranus Raphael, 32, p. 

Urbino Court of, 415, ibid, 
note, h. 

Ursinus Fabius, 145. 



Xystus Cardinalis, 20. 






ERRATA. 

» Page 10 line $ for capsule read calyx 

6J) line & for kindnes read kindness 
104 line 7 ab ima for vs^rj; read ve//,ti, 
114 line 4 for who am I read who I am 
167 line 26 vire^ue, sic legitur in Ed. Aldlna t sed 

fortasse legendum vicesque 
175 line 5 ab ima for a^CaX-n read e/*€«Xs 
196 line 2 for that of truth to read to truth that of 
199 line 5, 6 for longer called read longer be called 
225 line 24 perhaps, dele the -comma 
372 line 3 ab ima for Heyne read Haym 
382 line 1 8 for remembrance read reverence 
408 line 11 for herbs read herb 
41 6 line 3 for Urbina read Urbino 
424 line 7 ab ima for time P. Jovius read time when P. Jovius 

426 line 10 ab ima f.r discussions read dissensions 

427 line 19 ab imd for Lorrain read Louvain 
441 Marginal Note for Expliquee. Prem. read 

Expliquee Tom. 5. Piem. 



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